Magical Madness
by Kylemoor
Summary: Harry didn't stay witht he Dursley's. He was adopted into a family and has a brother who has a similar sense of humor to the Weasley twins. Follow Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and the rest as the story unfolds.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters created by JKR.

My over-active imagination has thought of this and since I have all the books and most of the movies I can't think of a reason to not do something with the material provided for me.

Please enjoy, I don't know when I might be able to update this story.

* * *

Peter Pettigrew was not an exactly an exceptional person. He was relatively short, pudgy, had been an average student when he was in school. He was extremely glad that he had been friends with three of the brightest students in his class. James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin had worked patiently and endlessly so that he could keep up with them, it didn't help that the four of them tended to be pranksters and spent half their time plotting their next humorous joke to pull on someone.

But there was one thing that made Peter stand out from other people. It was not the fact that he was a wizard. No, all his friends were witches and wizards. It was also not the fact that he was an Animagus; James and Sirius were also Animagi. The three of them could turn into a stag, that was James, a large black dog, Sirius, and a rat, Peter. Even though their friend Remus was a werewolf that was not what made Peter stand out either, being friends with a werewolf that is. What made Peter stand out was that when the dark wizard Voldemort captured him one Halloween night and tortured him to give the location of his friend James Potter's home the only reason why the Dark Lord found out was because he managed to pry the information out of Peter was because the Dark Lord was a Legilimin. This meant that Voldemort was able to magically extract the desired piece of information from Peter's mind. Peter stood out because he would rather die a brutal painful death than betray his friends.

After the Dark Lord was done with Peter he was thrown into a small room, without his wand, and the door was locked. Peter had a pretty good idea that the building he was in was warded against Apparating so he did not try to escape in that manner. The Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers, did not know that Mr. Pettigrew could turn into a rat. So after waiting a few minutes to gather his scattered wits and for the Death Eaters to move away from the door, Peter changed, walked under the door, found his wand, changed back and blasted his way out of the building, vanishing into the night.

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"Sirius!" Peter shouted as he ran through the woods where his old school friend was camping out for a weekend hideout. He knew he had to find him soon, there was no time, in fact it could already be too late. "Padfoot! Where are you!?" he called again.

"Wormtail!" a voice came from the left.

Sirius Black came from the shadows, a frightened look on his face, "What's going on?"

"He has it!" Peter desperately told his larger friend, "He's going there right now!"

"Who?" Sirius exclaimed, "Where?"

"Voldemort!" Peter shouted, "To the Potter's!"

"You TOLD HIM!" Sirius shouted furiously.

"He ripped it from my mind!" Peter desperately tried to calm his friend down, "He's a Legilimen. I _told_ him nothing!"

Sirius looked temporarily relieved before suddenly grabbing Peter. "There's no time to lose!" he shouted, "He's probably already there!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Peter said, "Damn! Why did tonight have to be a full moon? We need Moony for more support!"

"It can't be helped," Sirius said as the two ran through the forest, "We'll have manage with who we have!"

The two men vanished abruptly, Apparating to the Potter's home.

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Peter and Sirius ran through the smashed in door, to see Voldemort dueling with James and Lily running upstairs with little Harry. Without pausing the two of them jumped into the fray. "You," Voldemort said coldly as he saw Peter, "How did you get out of that room?"

"Let's just say I can be very small when I need to be," Peter spat at the Dark Lord shooting a blasting curse at him. Voldemort knocked it to the side with ease.

With the addition of a second Auror, Sirius and James were Aurors or Dark Wizard Catchers for the Ministry of Magic, and their tag-along friend, who worked in the Misuse of Magic department at the Ministry, the fight began to become a little fairer. Still, a powerful curse shot out and struck James in the chest, straight to the heart. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Surprisingly it was not Sirius who rushed madly at Voldemort, rage in his eyes, revenge the only thought in his mind, but Peter. For a single moment, Voldemort seemed to feel a twinge of fear as the hexes and curses rained down on him. But, as the green light shot toward Peter, the last thought to cross his mind was that nobody would know the truth and nobody would believe Sirius. As Peter Pettigrew fell dead to the floor, and Sirius was slammed into the wall unconscious, the truth that Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black, had been the Potter's Secret Keeper died in a flash of blinding green light and a cruel laugh.

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Albus Dumbledore walked gracefully into Privet Drive and took his Putter-Outer out of his pocket. He flicked the little switch on it a few times and the street lights went out, leaving only the moon to light the green lawn that the owners of took such good care for. Heading in the direction of Number Four, he spotted a cat sitting on short wall.

"I expected that you might be here, Minerva," Dumbledore smiled at the cat. The cat in question hopped from its seat and walked over to Dumbledore transforming into an aging, but not nearly as old as Dumbledore, witch.

"Good evening Headmaster," Minerva McGonagall said tersely.

"Is it true?" McGonagall asked, "Are the Potter's really…"

"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore told her, "Hagrid is bringing young Harry here as we speak."

"Are you sure this is a wise decision Albus?" McGonagall asked him, "I've been watching this family all day and they are atrocious."

"They are his only living relatives," Dumbledore told his friend, "And I am not completely sure that Voldemort is gone," he chose ignored McGonagall's flinch at the name, "I want him protected and this is the easiest way to do it. As long as he can call this place home, the blood relation of his aunt will keep him safe."

"I still don't think that it is a good idea, Albus," McGonagall told him. Dumbledore observed his fellow professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a moment before pulling out a small mirror. He spoke softly into it for a few moments before returning it to his pocket and looking over to his right. There was a loud-_CRACK_-and a middle-aged man appeared next to him.

"What is it?" the man asked in an American accent.

"Minerva meet Gabriel Munro. Gabriel meet Minerva McGonagall. Gabriel I would like you to do us a favor," Dumbledore put his hand on Gabriel's shoulder.

"I see," Gabriel said, looking at Dumbledore questioningly. At that moment a large motorbike descended from the sky and a _very_ large man got off it, lifting a small child from the passenger carriage.

"Hagrid, you have perfect timing," Dumbledore informed the giant, "Gabriel, if you could watch over young Harry Potter as he grows up with this Muggle family. We have concerns about how they might bring him up."

Gabriel nodded and the three smaller people looked at Harry in Hagrid's arms. "Is that where…?" McGonagall asked pointing at the lightning bolt shaped scar on the sleeping boys' forehead.

"Yes, it is," Dumbledore said, "The point where the Killing Curse bounced off and struck its caster. I dare say he will bear it for the rest of his life."

Taking the baby from Hagrid, after the giant man said a tearful goodbye to the young boy, Dumbledore placed Harry on the steps to Number Four with a letter addressed to Petunia Dursley. "Now all we can do is hope for the best," he told his companions, "Good luck, Harry Potter."

With that, the four of them departed, Gabriel Apparating away, McGonagall transforming back into a cat and walking into the darkness, Hagrid mounting the motorbike and taking to the sky, and Dumbledore vanishing with a swish of his purple cloak.

* * *

_Let me know how I did. I'm going back to school in about a month or so, so I may be updating this quite frequently for a few weeks and then suddenly stopping for a while, I don't know what will happen._

_This also isn't the only thing I'm working on so for those of you who think this is interesting and become avide readers of it, please be patient with my I'm trying my best with all the stories I'm writing._

_Please review. Please. Pretty please. Hello? Anyone there?_


	2. Sorcerer's Stone part I

Disclaimer: I mentioned that I don't have the copyright to Harry Potter in the last chapter it carries over to this one.

Ok, interesting things are going to happen now. Not terribly terribly interesting things yet as we aren't even out of the first book yet, but still, interesting things.

Anywho, enjoy:

* * *

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry sat in his office mulling over a potential Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He was changing to the profile of another prospect when someone stopped outside his door.

"Come in," he called, not bothering to wait for the person to knock.

Gabriel Munro walked into the room and sat in a chair on the other side of Dumbledore's desk.

"Ah, Gabriel, what is it that you were wishing to speak with me about?" Dumbledore said, putting the pieces of parchment aside, giving his friend his full attention.

"There is a problem with Mr. Potter," Gabriel said, "I think it would be better if I showed you rather than telling you."

He pulled a little vial out of his coat, and Dumbledore placed his Pensieve in the middle of his desk.

----------------------------

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, "I was expecting them to act like this," he sighed, "but not nearly this badly. He can begrudgingly call that place a home, but it is slowly becoming a far cry at that."

"What should we do?" Gabriel asked.

"We need to handle this smoothly," Dumbledore said as Gabriel retrieved the memory and placed it back in the vial, "We will have the Muggle authorities remove him from the house, make sure that the family isn't arrested we don't want to destroy the life of another boy because of Harry we can allow his parents to do that for him. We then need to ensure that a wizarding family adopts him, but it needs to be one that has enough potency that when Voldemort returns he will be protected."

"Why can't he live with his Godfather, Sirius Black?" Gabriel asked.

"Because he is currently imprisoned in Azkaban for turning over the secret location of the Potter's to Voldemort and the murder of Peter Pettigrew," Dumbledore snorted, "Though, between you and I, I highly doubt that if he did it was voluntarily. Black and Potter were practically brothers, neither one of them, or their friends Remus and Peter, would betray each other willingly. As for Peter's death…well, there is a convenient lack of evidence down that road if you ask me."

"How about Remus then?" Gabriel asked.

"Remus would, unfortunately, never take the boy in as a son," Dumbledore said a bit ruefully, "He considers his condition far too dangerous."

Gabriel thought for a moment. "You said "when Voldemort returns"," he looked up at Dumbledore, "You're expecting him to return then?"

"Without a doubt," Dumbledore said, "and I'm afraid that Harry should be told about what has been said concerning him and Voldemort rather soon after he has come to this school." Gabriel sat back, drifting off into thought again before a large smile appeared on his face.

"I think I know just the family," he told Dumbledore.

-----------------------

Harry Potter lay back on his bed. Four years ago men had came to the Dursley's house and took him away. Harry was all too happy to see the last of that miserable place, his aunt and uncle made him do most of the chores around the house as well as cook when his aunt didn't want to. On top of that, they never stopped Harry's cousin, Dudley, from playing "Harry Hunting" involving tracking Harry down and tormenting him.

So when he was taken away to an orphanage, Harry practically in heaven. It was only a few days later that a middle-aged man, average height and build with a mustache and goatee, came by with his son, shorter than his father but similarly built with shoulder length brown hair, several years older than Harry, introducing himself as Gabriel Munro and his son as Robert Munro. After a few visits, a signature on a few pieces of paper, and a bit of a drive through London, Harry found himself at his new home at Number 42 Coventry Lane.

Harry began noticing odd things about his new family shortly afterwards. For one thing Robert would go out into the back yard and simply vanish into thin air, or so it would seem for Harry never actually witnessed what happened when Robert would go into the back yard. Also, the house never seemed to get dirty, no matter how hard anyone tried. Of course it got messy and Robert and Harry would be told to clean up their messes by a stern Gabriel, but there wasn't any dust or dirt in the house ever.

Robert stopped going into the back yard when he turned seventeen two years after Harry came to live with them. He would instead leave to go to work with his father as Harry went to school. One would usually be home by the time Harry returned. Harry thought that this was unusual since most of the teachers at school would tell them that most people finishing school and getting a job would be eighteen, a year older than Robert was.

Harry was mulling these thoughts over in his head when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in," he called sitting up on his bed. Robert walked in holding an envelope.

"Hey there Short-Stuff," Robert messed with Harry's hair, "a letter came for you in the mail today."

Harry looked up at his adoptive older brother; mail never came for him in particular so what was going on? Was Robert pulling his leg like the last time "mail" had come for Harry?

Taking the envelope from Robert, Harry read the green writing on the front. "To Mr. Harry J. Potter, Number 42 Coventry Lane, second bedroom of the upstairs," he read, he looked up at Robert questioningly. Robert looked completely impassive, either this was for real or he had really outdone himself on this prank. Harry opened the letter and read it.

_Dear Mr. Potter, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Harry looked up at Robert who still was keeping his facial expression quite under control. The recent development of a beard was helping. "Ok, ha ha, very funny," Harry told Robert, "you've had your little joke can you leave my room now?"

"It's not a joke," his older brother told him in a completely serious tone, "shall I prove it?"

Harry nodded this he had to see. Robert reached into the sleeve of his long sleeve shirt, his fingers barely going past the tip the sleeve. He pulled out a long thin rod and pointed it at Harry's clock. He gave the stick a little swish and a quick flick and the clock slowly rose into the air. Harry watched the clock in rapt amazement as it floated around the room and returned to the nightstand by his bed. He turned back to Robert and got an even bigger shock as he saw Robert write "Now do you believe me?" in shining letters with the stick, _in mid air_.

The letters shone for a moment before fading to nothing. Harry blinked and looked at his older brother. "How did…?" he interrupted by Robert, "Magic," Robert said, "Both me and Dad are wizards, as are you. It has come time for you to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the first of seven years of magical schooling."

"Did you go to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"No," Robert told him, "I went to The Masonic School of Magic in the United States of America. As you know, both Dad and I are American." The boys heard the front door to the house open. Harry and Robert glanced at the clock; it read four o' clock exactly.

"Perfect, Dad's home," Robert said, placing the stick, which turned out to be a wand, behind his ear, "And from the sounds of it Mr. Lupin has joined him for afternoon tea."

The boys grinned at each other, "What are they doing now?" Harry asked anxiously.

"They've retrieved cups from the cupboard…they've poured the tea….adding sweetener…" Robert reported to his adopted younger brother.

"And finding out that we've exchanged the sugar with the salt right about….now!" Harry grinned as the boys heard a chorus of spitting noises and a loud voice calling them downstairs.

"Bring the letter," Robert told Harry, "There's more to this explanation than I can tell you myself." Harry wondered what Robert meant by that as the boys descended the stairs.

--------------------------------

Harry sat back in his chair staring in awe at his adoptive father. Gabriel had just told him the whole story behind his parents' deaths, why he had been at the Dursley's and why he was his adoptive father. "So this Voldemort (is that what you called him?) character murdered my parents because he wanted to kill me?" he asked.

"Correct," Mr. Lupin said, "But for some reason he couldn't kill you, I believe that Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, can speculate on how it happened but I'm not sure he can definitively that "this happened"."

"Why didn't you take me in if you were such good friends with my dad?" Harry asked looking at Mr. Lupin. Lupin became rather red and flustered and it was Gabriel who answered Harry.

"Remus here has a bit of a condition that makes him feel a little unsafe to be around at times," he told the young boy, "Especially around the time of a full moon."

Harry gapped at the older man, "Mr. Lupin is a…"

"Yes, Harry," Lupin sighed, "I am a werewolf; have been since before I went to Hogwarts, which I got into only because Professor Dumbledore took over the position as Headmaster a few years before I was old enough to go."

"But there isn't anything wrong with him being a werewolf," Gabriel implored Harry, "For twelve nights a year he is something else. But for every single _day_ of the year he's a normal human just like you and me."

"But if Voldemort is dead, why did the wizarding family I got adopted into need to be powerful?" Harry asked, "And why didn't I just get sent straight there instead of to the Dursley's?"

Gabriel and Lupin exchanged looks. "We can at least tell him the beginnings," Lupin said as Gabriel nodded.

"What? Beginnings of what?" Harry pried.

"Voldemort isn't dead," Gabriel told him, "We don't know where he is, but he's still out there. And until we know he's dead we have to keep you safe and there are only two ways of doing that: One, the blood protection of your mother's sister, but that only worked as long as you could call that place a home. Since that was becoming rather iffy Professor Dumbledore and I agreed to remove you from there and place you in the care of a powerful wizarding family. Myself being a rather accomplished Auror for the American Magical Government and Robert soon to be done with school and following in my footsteps I was quite a logical choice."

"Don't get me wrong, Harry," Gabriel said, seeing a hurt look enter the boy's eye, "I was the person who monitored your life at the Dursley's. After it was decided to have a wizarding family adopt you I made sure that I was the one to adopt you. After watching you grow up in that house those painful years I had developed an attachment to you, if you will."

"And since the two of you seem to be taking after Harry's father," Lupin gestured to the discarded tea cups, "I doubt that Robert feels that you are anything but his younger brother."

Harry sat pondering what his adoptive father had told him. He was a wizard who was apparently feared by a rather powerful dark wizard, feared enough that the dark wizard would go to great lengths to possibly have him killed. 'But why?' Harry thought, 'Why does Voldemort want me dead? It's not like I've done anything to challenge him or anything.'

Robert broke him from his thoughts with a large grin and a statement telling him that the two of them would be running past a place called Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy his school supplies.

-----------------------------

"So there are two types of people in the world," Harry reiterated to Robert as they walked down a street in London, "Witches and wizards are the magic folk and Muggles are non-magic folk."

"There's also a category for people in magical families who can't perform magic," Robert said, "I don't particularly like it but it exists: a Squib."

Harry wore jeans and a Manchester United shirt while Robert wore similar clothing but had a plain black shirt on instead. Both boys had grown considerably since they first met, Robert now stretched past his father in height and had a larger frame. Harry, though still small and wiry, looked far healthier than he did after he first left the Dursley's four years ago, actually having gained forty pounds, almost doubling his weight.

"You should take note, Harry that Wizards are just like Muggles only with magical means of doing daily tasks. You notice all the technology around us right now," he gestured to stop lights, cars, ATM machines, and the tube station they were walking past, "All this was designed by Muggles to improve their daily lives. Wizards do the same thing except they look for a new spell to cast to accomplish something for them. This may seem like Wizards are lazy or something but you must remember that magic takes a great deal of effort to do properly. It is possible to have an overweight wizard, but that would mean that he is not necessarily adept at magic."

"And Wizards, like Muggles, are very different from each other depending on the society and nation they live in. For example, your Hogwarts school has seven years of attendance to it. On the other hand, the school I went to only has five. Because of the time length difference, my schooling was a bit more intense and I actually went to school year round. There are reasons for why our respective schools have different numbers of years for attendance: the number seven is considered to be a powerful number in the realm of magic, therefore many schools have seven years for their curriculums."

"The Masonic School of Magic was founded by a group of men called the Free Masons. They among the first people in the American Government to be aware of the magical world, seeing as many Free Masons were actually wizards themselves. The number five is important in Masonic teachings as it signifies "builder". I never paid too much attention in _A History of Magic_, that's a class you will likely take, so I'm not completely sure how that little fact is significant; I think it might be because witches and wizards are "magical builders" or something or the other. Ah, here we are. Welcome to the Leaky Caldron Harry."

Harry looked at the building in front of them. It was old, dirty, and appeared to be a pub. "Why are we here?" he asked Robert. "You'll see," was all the older boy told him as they entered.

"Hagrid! Good to see you again!" Robert called to a large man sitting at a table eating lunch. The man, Hagrid, looked up and beamed at the two boys.

"Robbie! Pleasure ta see yeh again lad! And o's this? Harry Potter?" the great man pushed his chair back, turning to the boys, "Harry! Good ta see yeh again! The las' time I saw yeh you just a wee lad. Good ta see yeh've grown!"

At this point lots of people were coming over wanting to shake Harry's hand, welcoming to the Leaky Caldron, thanking him profusely for what he had done. Harry's head was still swimming when he heard Hagrid's loud voice over the commotion.

"All right ev'ry'un! Young Harry here has much ter do! Got's to go buy his school stuff," the giant called. He and Robert managed to maneuver Harry through the building with surprising speed, then again Robert had told Harry that his job was to be virtually non-existent as he tracked and apprehended dark witches and wizards, and Hagrid stood a good twelve feet tall at least so cutting a path through a crowd was an easy job for the two of them.

"Why were all those people so excited over me?" Harry asked as the three of them stepped into a small back lot behind the pub.

"Yer famous Harry," Hagrid told him, "I'm sure Gab and Robbie here hav' told yeh the story already."

"The one about Voldemort and my parents?" Harry asked feeling confused when Hagrid flinched at the name.

"Hagrid it's just a name," Robert said to the larger man, "If you can't get over the fear of a little word how will you be able to stand up to the bastard when you're faced with him."

"But he's gone," Hagrid said, "I prolly won' ever face 'im."

"Even more reason to just say the name," Robert said, "Repeat after me Hagrid: Voldemort."

"Vo-V-Vold," Hagrid tried to say the name and was failing miserably, "Ok, here goes," he took a deep breath, "Voldemort," he finally managed to choke out. "See. That wasn't so hard now was it? Oh, if you could do the honors," Robert stepped back from the wall he was standing in front of.

Hagrid pulled out a pink umbrella and tapped a series of bricks on the wall. Suddenly the bricks began moving apart and an opening appeared in the wall leading down a winding road with shops lining both sides.

"And now we enter the wondrous world of Diagon Alley," Robert said, "Before entering please take the time to notice all emergency exits. In case of a sudden depressurization of the world, use your wand to create the Bubblehead Charm to supply yourself with breathable air. If you come with a small child administer the charm on yourself first _and let the little bugger fend for himself._"

He and Harry grinned madly at each other as he finished saying this. Robert had made up a similar joke to an airplane flight safety lecture one time that they had gone on a brief vacation to America. If there was something funny that could be said about a situation chances are Robert would be able to think of it.

"Firs' things firs'," Hagrid said, "I need to pick up a package for Dumbledore from Gringotts Bank and I suppos' you too have to pick up money before you shop."

----------------------------

"Well that was an adventure," Robert said as they stepped back outside the bank, a bag of gold in Harry's hands, "Dare I ask what was in vault seven-thirteen?"

"I's more than my job's worth ta tell yeh," Hagrid told him, "Now I mus' be gettin' back to Professor Dumbledore." The giant waved to the boys as he walked away.

"How'd you like Hagrid?" Robert asked as the brothers walked to Madam Malkin's robe shop, "He's the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. If you ever want a friendly person to talk to that won't judge, to a degree it depends on what you're talking about, he'll be more than happy to talk to you about anything."

"Why's he so big?" Harry asked. "He's half-giant," Robert responded, "But that's something you'll have to ask him about."

A set of wizard robes and a ill-encounter with a stuck up prick named Draco Malfoy, a stop by Flourish and Blotts to pick up Harry's books and caldron, by the Apothecary to by potion supplies, and a funny looking store that Harry never quite got the name of but it had loads of animals in it, Harry and Robert found themselves outside Mr. Ollivanders wand shop with all of Harry's supplies and a snowy white owl, named Hedwig Harry decided.

"Well, this is it," Robert said, "Last stop before lunch and the trip back home." They walked into the musty shop and were greeted by a vast silence. Harry saw a bell on the desk and rang it lightly and an aging man on a ladder slide into view. "Ah, Mr. Potter," the man said, "I was wondering when I would be seeing you."

He stepped off the ladder an walked forward extending his hand to Harry who shook it. "My name is Ollivander," the man said, "It is my pleasure to fit you with the wand you will be using as a wizard Mr. Potter. Amazing how the years go by," he commented going back into the back room and pulling out several boxes, "I remember the day that your parents were in here buying their wands like it happened yesterday. Your mother had a wand for charms: Ten and a quarter inches, swishy and made of willow. Had a unicorn hair in it as its core. Your father on the other hand had a wand more suited for transfiguration: Eleven inches long, mahogany, slightly pliable. His had a phoenix tail feather as its core."

"Now then," Mr. Ollivander said putting down the boxes and pulling a wand from one of them, "Let us see what wand you will receive." Harry took the wand from Mr. Ollivander and almost gave it a little wave when it was plucked from his hand. "Apparently not," he said, "Try this one."

Probably a dozen, maybe more, wands later Harry still had no wand. "Tricky costumer this one," Mr. Ollivander said to Robert, "The wand chooses the wizard after all Mr. Potter. Eventually we will find one. I've gone through every wand in the store before finally having a wand choose the costumer. That was a tedious day. One the other hand I've also had the first wand I handed to someone choose the witch. You can never know what's going to work."

He paused as he picked up a wand. "Eleven inches, holly, phoenix feather, supple…I wonder…try this one if you please," he handed to wand to Harry. Harry didn't even move his hand, but a glow came from the tip and he felt a warm welcome sensation in his fingers.

"She likes," Mr. Ollivander mused, "Curious, very curious."

"Sorry, what's curious?" Harry asked.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter," Mr. Ollivander said as he returned the wand to its box and wrapped it, "The phoenix that provided the feather for y our wand gave but two feathers. I sold the first of the two over fifty years ago to a young Tom Riddle. Yes, thirteen and a half inches, made of yew. A powerful wand it was, and it did many terrible things. I find it curious that you should be destined for this wand when its brother gave you the scar on your forehead."

"You mean that…"

"Yes, You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Dark Lord, _Voldemort_, however you want to say his name, he owns the wand with the other phoenix feather in it," Mr. Ollivander said, "But enough about that. Those dark times are long past. Enjoy your school days Mr. Potter." He bowed Robert and Harry out of his shop.

--------------------------

A month later found Harry, Robert, and Gabriel walking through Kings Cross Station on their way to… "Platform Nine-and-three-quarters?" Harry asked looking at his ticket and then to Gabriel. "You'll see," was all his adopted father said. Robert was snickering to himself as he pushed Harry's trolley along.

"…packed with Muggles as usual…"

Harry glanced over in the direction of the voice. A plump woman escorting a posse of boys and holding the hand of a rather cute little girl, all with flaming red hair, were walking a short ways away from Harry and his family. "If you follow them you'll find out where were going I'm sure," Gabriel prodded Harry and they walked after the red headed troop.

They stopped at a barrier divided platforms Nine and Ten about three quarters of the way down the platforms. Without pause, the oldest of the boys walked briskly at the solid divider and walked _straight through_ the solid wall, vanishing. Harry blinked, unsure if what he had seen was real. However when the next oldest set of boys, who appeared to be identical twins with a rather prominent sense of humor, went through the wall one right after the other he remembered that he was, after all, going to a school of magic so the way to get there was probably equally as "magical". He was suddenly pulled forward by Gabriel and they approached the family.

"Morning Molly," Gabriel said in a friendly tone, "How's Arthur?"

"Oh, Mr. Munro," the woman said apparently a bit surprised to see him, "Arthur's just fine. He couldn't get off work today to see the kids off, a pity really seeing as the last Weasley boy is off to school." She sighed, "Hopefully he will be able to get off next year when the first Weasley _girl_ to be born in about six generations will be heading off for her first year at Hogwarts."

"That would be lovely indeed," Gabriel said, "Now I believe you know Robert," he gestured to Robert who was leaning against Harry's trolley, "And this is my other charge: say hello Harry."

"Uh, hi," Harry stammered, it was unusual for Gabriel to introduce him to strangers but it appeared that Gabriel knew this family.

The remaining Weasley's looked at Harry and each had a different reaction. The boy, who was starting to become tall and gangly, just opened his eyes and stared for a moment. The young girl gave a little squeak and hid behind her mother, peering out from behind her every once in a while. Mrs. Weasley smiled and looked over Harry quickly. "A bit peaky if you ask me, have you been feeding him alright Gabriel?" she asked.

"I don't go to the grocery nearly as often as you might, Molly," Gabriel said to her, "But you wouldn't believe the amount of food that these two boys go through."

The boy wandered over to Harry and Robert while the adults talked and the girl kept nervously glancing at Harry. "I'm Ron by the way," he introduced himself, "Are you really Harry Potter?"

Harry turned to Robert, giving his brother a look that asked "am I really as famous as you said I am?"

"'Fraid so, bro," Robert told him, "Now let's mysteriously disappear while those two aren't watching." He pointed to the talking adults.

Harry and Ron grinned at the older boy and, after Ron grabbed his trolley, the three of them ran at the barrier stepping through it. Harry looked around, hardly believing what he was seeing. A large steam engine train sat waiting to be filled by the kids being hugged one last time by their parents before leaving for the school term. He could hear owls hooting, frogs-or were they toads-croaking, there were even a few cats prowling around the crowd as their owners chased after them.

"Wicked isn't it?" Ron asked Harry. Harry nodded as the twin Weasley's from earlier showed up.

"Need a hand?" one of them asked, "There's still some room over there by Lee Jordan. He's saving it for friends and family, as he put it anyway." The twins and Robert stored the younger boys trunks in the luggage compartment and turned back to see a near hysterical Mrs. Weasley and a grinning Gabriel, who was having difficulty not laughing, scolding Ron and Harry for leaving without first telling someone where they were going. Or Mrs. Weasley was anyway, Gabriel was complimenting Robert on the slick getaway.

"Now then," Mrs. Weasley said, turning to the twins as she finished with Ron and Harry, "I expect you two to be on your best behavior do you hear me? I don't want to get another note from the Headmaster saying that you've…blown up another toilet…"

"We've never blown up a toilet before, mother," the right hand twin said.

"Thanks for the idea," the other one said.

"Indeed, yes," Robert joined in, pulling out a piece of paper that read "To Do List" at the top.

"Are you encouraging these two?!" the mother cried incredulously at Robert.

Robert looked at her with an aghast look on his face, "Heavens no," he breathed, "Why would anyone see me as a role model? Just because I'm older doesn't necessarily mean I'm wiser or something. Harry is that the boy we met at the robe shop a few weeks ago?" He pointed in the direction of Draco Malfoy who was being hugged by his mother. He pulled his wand out of his jacket sleeve, made some funny gestures with it and put it back. When Malfoy tried to walk away he found that his shoe-laces had been tied together in a neat little bow, causing everyone but Mrs. Weasley to laugh.

"Now then," Gabriel cut in as the laughter died, "Mrs. Weasley is right: try to stay out of trouble. But don't just hole yourself up somewhere and study all the time. You're at school, you're kids, this is a time for you to enjoy yourselves, and maybe learn a few tricks along the way while you're at it."

The train whistle blew and the boys, minus Robert, piled onto the train. The Weasley girl started crying.

"Don't cry Ginny," Ron called, "We'll write loads of letters. Even make Percy write to you when he isn't strutting around with his Prefect badge displayed."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat, Ginny" one of the twins called.

"_George!"_ their mother yelled.

"Only joking, Mum," George reassured her.

"Remember to send letters every week," Gabriel said, "And do visit Hagrid, he loves company and has amazing stories about the school."

The train pulled away and the boys moved away from the door. "Well then," George said, "I believe you've met Ron here, Harry, but we haven't been introduced yet. I'm Forge Weasley and this is my brother Gred."

"Right," Harry smiled, "I'm Harry Potter."

"Really?" Gred, or rather Fred, said, "Do you remember what You-Know-Who looks like?"

"Sorry," Harry told them, "I've been told that I was barely a year old when that happened. I don't remember much except for a flash of green light and a cruel laugh suddenly being cut off."

"Wicked," George said.

"But you must excuse us," Fred said.

"Lee Jordan has a giant tarantula and is showing it around," George finished and with that the two older boys vanished. Harry and Ron looked around spotting an open compartment and went in.

"Just how many brothers do you have?" Harry asked his new acquaintance.

"Five," Ron said a bit gloomily, "I hardly get anything new. I've got Bill's old robes, he's the oldest, Charlie's old wand, second oldest, and Percy's old rat, third oldest. I've also got a lot to live up to. Bill was Head Boy and Charlie Quidditch Captain, now Percy's a Prefect. The twins goof off a lot, as you might have noticed, but get good enough grades. Anything I do will probably get overlooked as it's all been done before."

"I have an older brother, adopted but still, but he went to an American Magic School. So it will be like I don't have one at Hogwarts. Unless Robert is well know enough that teachers know him," Harry said.

"Or the parents of kids know our father and try and compare you to him and myself," a voice came from the overhead luggage compartment. Ron and Harry looked up to see Robert lying up there grinning ear to ear.

"What's up?" he said, hopping down and sitting next to Harry.

"How'd you get up there?" Harry gapped at his brother.

"Auror trade secret," Robert said mysteriously, "Anyway here comes the snack cart." He stopped the cart outside the compartment, handing the witch pushing it a few Galleons and loading his arms with sweets.

"Share the wealth," said Robert as he conjured a table from thin air and laid the sweets on it.

Ron looked at him in amazement. "You bought all this for the trip?" he asked looking at Robert like he was out of his mind.

"Sure," Robert said as he and Harry dug in, "Have a Chocolate Frog, and if you find a Merlin card I still need one."

"I don't want to bother you," Ron said glumly, pulling out a packet of sandwiches, "oh, bloody hell, corned beef. Mum always forgets I hate corned beef."

"LOOK A UNICORN!" Robert yelled pointing out the window at something, both Harry and Ron desperately craned their necks to try and see what the older boy had seen but didn't see anything.

"Bother," Harry said as they sat back down, "Always wanted to see one in the wild."

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed looking around, "Where'd my sandwiches go?"

"Wha' sawishs?" Robert asked with his mouth full.

"You ate my sandwiches!" Ron pointed at Robert, aghast that the boy would do such a thing.

"What?" Robert asked, swallowing and looking around, "What sandwiches? Where?"

"The corned beef sandwiches my mum made me," Ron told him slightly exasperated.

"You have corned beef sandwiches?" Robert said opening his eyes wide with interest, "Can I have them? I love corned beef."

It was too much for Harry to take and he burst out laughing, shortly followed by Ron who suddenly realized what the older boy had done and everyone dug back into the mountain of candy Robert had bought.

"Pardon me," a nervous looking boy said sticking his head into the compartment, "but has anyone seen a toad by any chance?"

"Like the one between your shoes?" Robert asked, munching on a licorice wand.

"Trevor!" the boy said, as he picked up the toad, "Thanks," he said. "Don't mention it," Robert said, "And take this with you!" He handed the boy a box of sugar quills. The boy thanked him again and left.

"Always nice to see a pet return to its owner," Robert mumbled, "You have a pet by chance?" he asked Ron.

Ron reached into his pocket and took out a rat, "His name is Scabbers," he said, "he's not much but considering he's been in the family for ten years and he's still lively I can't complain too much." Scabbers crawled out of Ron's hand and into a Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans box.

"I've got Hedwig," Harry said, "She's a bit harder to take care of than a rat but she's smart. I think she'd go buy me a snack if I gave her some money and she'd come back with correct change. Not that I'm bragging or anything."

The door to the compartment opened and a girl Harry and Ron's age stuck her head in. "Um, pardon me for asking but, aren't you a little old to be going to Hogwarts?" she asked Robert, obviously taking notice of his long hair and short beard. "I'm not a student," Robert told her, "I have however, recently gotten a job in the village of Hogsmeade and since the train station is in that village I got passage on the train."

"I thought you…"

"Shhht!"

Harry was slightly taken aback when his older brother shushed him before he got his question out. Robert had told Harry that he was an Auror for the American Magical Government, so why did he now have a job in Hogsmeade Village? 'Must be Auror business,' he mused to himself as Robert invited the girl in and sat her down next to Ron.

The girl looked a little scarred, until Ron offered her a chocolate frog-"If the card is Agrippa I'm still looking for him so could you give it to me if it's him?"-then she only looked shy. "I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced herself smiling a bit, revealing a set of rather large front teeth, "who are you guys?"

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron said, as he ate some Every Flavored Beans.

"Harry Potter," Harry said, raising his hand a bit.

"Robert Munro," Robert said, pulling his wand out and beginning to polish it.

Hermione opened her eyes wide, suddenly excited and began talking rapidly the words coming out of her mouth so fast that Harry couldn't understand what she was saying. Robert pointed his wand at her and she fell silent, though her mouth continued to move for a few moments before realizing that she wasn't making any noise. She looked around and saw that Robert was still pointing the wand at her.

"Miss Granger," Robert began, "I think you are afflicted with a rather serious ailment called Know-It-All-Syndrome. The disorder causes the individual to be a bit of a social outcast as the individual can't manage to accomplish anything without using some piece of information that came from a book or something of the like. Because they can't do anything without said random piece of information, if you haven't noticed I really don't care that Harry is mentioned in books such as _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ or my father being mentioned in _Modern Magical History_ or Ron's family being mentioned as the possible descendants Godric Gryffindor, they spend all their time holed up in their little next of books that they create for themselves.

"I've also noticed that all of the little bits and pieces of information that they know have very little value to the world. You spouted out in Rapid-Fire-English bits of information that are in books. I demonstrated my knowledge by performing a silencing charm so that I would be able to speak without interruption. However I am being cruel here, so to make up for my actions: _Reducio_!"

Ron and Harry watched in amazement as Hermione's front teeth shrank to a more normal size. Robert made a few more flicks with his wand and Hermione's teeth shifted around in her mouth and conjured a mirror out of nowhere giving it to the young girl. Hermione looked in it, gasped, then giggled. "My parents were _so_ looking forward to me having braces when I got older," she giggled, then gapped at the fact that she was making sound again.

"Yes, I know, I removed the silencing charm," Robert waved his hand, "But let's discuss something else now…"

The four trailed off into topics like explaining to Ron what braces were and telling Hermione how you played the sport of Quidditch.

"So there are seven players to a team: three chasers, two beaters, a keeper, and a seeker. The chasers fly around on brooms with a ball called the Quaffle and try and throw it through three hoops that the keeper is guarding. The beaters have clubs and fly around whacking two balls that fly through the air trying to knock people off their brooms, the beaters are directing these "bludgers?" away from their teammates and toward the other team. The seeker is the most important player on the team as he or she is the only one who can end the game by catching a little ball with wings called the snitch. The seeker has to be paying attention to the entire playing field because while catching the snitch isn't worth any points it signifies the end of the game." Hermione took a deep breath, "That's a lot to keep track of."

"It is," Ron said, "I respect the seekers position a lot. You have to be watching two games at the same time basically: the game between the chasers, keepers, and beaters; and the game between you and the other seeker, because you want the snitch to be caught while your team is in the lead not the other way around. Not only that, the snitch isn't released at the start of the game and is never released at the same time twice so you have to keep watch for the snitch which is so small and reflective it's damn near impossible to see sometimes. Longest Quidditch match ever played was three weeks. The teams kept having to put in substitute players so that people could sleep and eat. That particular game, the snitch wasn't released for two and a half weeks, nobody knows why but they have changed the rules a bit so that the snitch has to be released no later than three hours. Hardly any spectators were left when the game finally ended."

Hermione glared at Robert for a moment. "And how is _that_ not the so-called "Know-It-All-Syndrome"?" she asked him. "It pertained to the subject we were talking about and he said it at a pace that the rest of us could understand," Robert explained

The rest of the train ride was pleasant, the only interruption was when Malfoy showed up with two cronies, named Crabbe and Goyle. Scabbers the rat dealt with that problem by biting Goyle on the finger.

"We'll be arriving soon," Robert told the trio of new students, "I suggest you use the lavatory and change into your school robes."

Hermione left to take care of changing, coming back a few minutes later, while Harry and Ron changed in the compartment.

"Right then," Robert said to them as they pulled into the station, "Don't do anything unreasonably stupid this year. Learn a few things. Know when to keep your mouths shut, and I'm not just talking to Miss Granger boys, you make one obscene comment in class and I can guarantee you a detention and the loss of points for your house."

"What's this?" Harry and Hermione asked simultaneously.

"House Cup Competition," Ron explained, "You do good things over the course of the year your house is awarded points. You do things you're not supposed to do and you're punished by having points removed from your house. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins."

The rest of the evening was exciting. Hagrid took the first year students across the lake in boats, giving them a magnificent view of the castle. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all ended up in Gryffindor House. Harry was amazed at the size of the castle, and at the moving staircases. Ron's older brother Percy was one of the Gryffindor Prefects and lead the Gryffindor first-years to Gryffindor Tower and told them the password (Caput Draconis) to enter.

Harry fell asleep that night, with barely contained excitement for the classes to come. Which was unusual, since most boys Harry's age don't particularly enjoy school.

* * *

_The end...of chapter one._

_So how am I doing? Do you like Robert and Gabriel?_

_Let me know, please review._


	3. Socerer's Stone part II

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

Ok, I've updated rather fast, but that's because I had a few things done by the time I was ready to post them. It's probably going to be a while before my next update as I have another story I need to be working on and I have been neglecting it for a few days.

Enjoy:

_

* * *

_

_Dear Gabriel,_

_Everything is great here at Hogwarts. I'm in Gryffindor House with the Weasley's and it's great fun. The twins cause a great deal of commotion with their pranks, but the pranks are welcomed, they liven the atmosphere of the castle. Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall and Charms with Professor Flitwick are my favorite classes so far. History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts would be fun if it weren't for the teachers. Professor Binns died years ago and his ghost kept teaching, he just lectures on and on about the most boring things for the entire class. Most of the class just sleeps through it. Hermione Granger manages to stay awake I'm not sure how she does it. Professor Quirrell stutters as he speaks and isn't entirely good at the subject, but we learn enough in that class._

_We had flying lessons the other day and Draco Malfoy, a boy from Slytherin stole Neville Longbottoms Rememberall and chucked it off somewhere. I flew off after it and managed to catch it. Professor McGonagall apparently saw me do it and managed to wrangle her way around the rules so that I'm now playing the seeker position on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. By the way, Malfoy is a git. He's all into 'pure-blood' superiority and tries to step on muggle-borns (figuratively). Are all kids from Slytherin like this? For the most part they seem that way, I think I'll ask Robert about that._

_Oh, yes, almost forgot. Thanks for making me read those potion books before leaving. Professor Snape, teaches Potions Class, asked me a bunch of random question at the beginning of the first class. I think I put him out of his comfort zone when I got them right. He's also rather bias, gives loads of points to the Slytherins and overlooks bad things that they do and takes away points from anyone else, especially Gryffindors, and gives out detentions for the most ludicrous reasons._

_Anywho, I have to go now. I still have an essay for Charms to finish._

_Love from,_

_Harry_

Harry attached the letter to Hedwig's leg and watched her fly off into the distance. He left the Owlry and headed for the Great Hall where Ron and Hermione were eating lunch.

"Where've you been?" Ron asked meeting him half way there.

"Mailing a letter to Gabriel," Harry explained.

Just then the staircase they were on shifted, and moved to another landing. "Hey I've never gone through this door before," Ron said, "shall we see where it leads?"

"It's on the third floor on the right hand side of the castle," Hermione squeaked, "It's probably the door we're not supposed to go through, remember."

"C'mon Hermione, where's your sense of adventure?" Harry grinned following Ron to the door and opening it.

"Downstairs in the Great Hall with lunch," Hermione quivered following the boys through the door.

The boys just snickered at Hermione's joke and the three kids looked around. The corridor that was behind the door was dark and had a large shape on the floor at the far end. Harry moved a bit closer and realized that the shape was snoring. "What is that?" Ron asked. "It looks like a…" Hermione stopped talking as the shape woke up and looked at them.

It was a giant, three headed dog.

It growled loudly, scrambled to its feet and began bearing down on them. "I think I know why it's off limits now," Ron whimpered as the dog suddenly lunged for them.

Just then music started playing behind the dog. 'I recognize that tune,' Harry thought, 'but from where.'

"What's happening?" Hermione squeaked from the floor where she had tripped over her robes as she scrambled backwards, "Why's the dog backing off?"

The dog had turned it's heads toward the source of the music and was beginning to amble back to where it had been lying down. Finally it just lay down and started snoring again. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked around and saw Robert sitting in the corner of the corridor playing what appeared to be a violin. He got up, walked around the dog, and headed toward them, never stopping playing until he was right next to them.

"Well now," Robert said, "I think that this was enough adventure for the time being off to lunch with you."

"What were you playing?" Ron asked as they left the corridor and Robert locked the door behind them.

"Theme from Shindler's List," Robert said-"_Evanesco"-_waving his wand making the violin disappear, "It's a muggle motion picture I recommend you see it sometime."

"I knew I recognized it," Harry muttered to himself, "What exactly was that thing?" he asked his brother.

"I think that Hagrid would have a better idea of what it is, considering it's his dog," Robert said, scratching his beard, "But I can tell you that was a Cerberus, or massive three headed dog, by the name of Fluffy."

"Fluffy?"

"Yes, Hermione: _Fluffy_."

The arrival of Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand, his Quidditch broom, took the trio's minds off of the beast as soon as they got to the Great Hall, but one question remained in Harry's mind.

"Guys, what do you think Robert was doing in there?"

-----------------------------

About a week later Harry found his Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood going over with the rest of the team strategies for the upcoming game with the Slytherin Team. Angelina Johnson had come up with a few new maneuvers for the Chasers and was showing them to Wood, who was rather impressed, and the Weasley twins were cracking jokes as usual, though they were reminding Harry that there was nothing to worry about for the upcoming game.

"Don't worry yourself about the Bludgers Harry," Fred told him.

"We'll keep them aimed directly at the Slytherin's Seeker so that you have all the time in the world to catch the snitch when the moment comes," George said.

"'Course we need to knock out Captain Flint first," Fred reminded his twin.

"Knock it off you two!" Wood barked at the twins, "We need to stay focused!"

Harry had to laugh at that comment. Telling the twins to focus was like telling Hermione to stop studying, only more difficult.

"Alright Harry," Wood finally said, "remember that the Quidditch Cup is a points system. While the Chasers win the game for us, you win the Cup for us. We get however many points the Chasers score, plus fifty if you catch the Snitch. Those fifty points don't go into the game score so if we're behind in the game when you catch the Snitch we still lose, but, if you catch the Snitch in every match that's an extra hundred and fifty points for us in the Cup standings. If you can, try and let Angelina, Katie, and Alicia score as many times as they can. If we're losing badly catch the Snitch so that the other team doesn't get those extra points."

"Alright team," Wood addressed everyone, "Tomorrow is the big day. Get a good night's sleep and eat before you come. I want everyone here at ten o' clock tomorrow morning."

----------------------------

Harry was dragged out of bed by all four Weasley boys, even Percy had been recruited to make sure Harry was up in time to eat breakfast, and Hermione was tasked with shoving food down his throat during breakfast and making sure it stayed in him. He wasn't sure how they all managed it, but when ten o' clock rolled around Harry was sitting in the locker room with his Seeker gear on for the match, with the rest of the team surrounding him trying to boost his confidence.

"You're on the fastest broom every designed," Katie Bell told him, "You'll be able to outrun the other Seeker."

"Fred and I will be aiming the Bludgers at the other players, they'll be too concerned with us to concentrate on you," George Wealsey reassured him, almost serious.

"It can't go any worse than my first game," Wood told Harry, patting him on the back, "I took a Bludger to the head ten minutes in and woke up a week later in the Hospital Wing." Harry wasn't sure if this was encouraging or not.

Finally it was time to head out and the entire team rose, including Harry, and trooped out to the Quidditch Field. The stadium was enormous, then again nearly a thousand students and faculty had to fit in it so it had to be big.

"—And here comes the Gryffindor Team, headed by Oliver Wood and featuring the youngest Seeker in a century Harry Potter—"

Lee Jordan, the good friend of the Weasley twins was the commentator for the games. He gave as unbiased a commentary as a student rooting for his own house could. In other words, he played Gryffindor up as much as he could during the other matches he would simply commentate unless the Slytherins were playing in which case he would take every opportunity to bad mouth them.

Madam Hooch approached the center of the field where Wood and the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, stood glaring at each other. "Captains, shake hands," she instructed, and both boys grasped the others hand in a death grip, trying to break the others knuckles. "Teams, mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch shouted. Fourteen players took seat on their thin flying stick things.

"—And there off!—"Lee Jordan shouted, "—Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor snags the Quaffle first—she's diving this way and that—I asked her out a week ago, she still won't go out with me—"

"—_Jordan!_—"

"—Right, then Professor McGonagall—The Quaffle is stolen by Slytherin Chaser Adrian Pucey—Pucey to Flint—Flint shoots—SAVED BY OLIVER!—Alicia from Gryffindor has the Quaffle—passes to Angelina—to Katie—back to Alicia—to Angelina who shoots—AND SCORES! Gryffindor leads 10-0!"

Harry listened to Lee with one ear and concentrated on where the Snitch might be with the rest of his attention. He didn't know if it had been released yet, which didn't matter the girls were racking up points fast, Gryffindor was leading 40-0 soon enough. A few Slytherin Chasers managed to get past Wood, mainly by having a Bludger slam into him just before they scored, which resulted in a penalty shot for Angelina who made in and the score progressed to 60-20.

A few times he saw a flash of gold but since Wood had been training Harry to deduce the difference between the reflective surface of the Snitch with other things Harry knew it wasn't anything other than the Weasley twins' watches.

However the glint of light over by the teachers box looked an awful lot like the snitch, and since Gryffindor was currently trouncing Slytherin 110-40, Harry rocketed off in its direction closely followed by the Slytherin seeker, a seventh year named Terrence Higgs.

That's when things started heading downhill. As he approached the teacher's box his broom suddenly became erratic and tried to buck him off. Only partially in control of his broom he continued chasing after the Snitch.

----------------------------------

"What's up with Harry?" Seamus Finnigan, a fellow first year in Gryffindor asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said, clinging desperately to the bleachers as they watched Harry try to control his broom. The entire stadium gasped as he was suddenly bucked off and managed to grab hold of the broom at the last second to stay in the air.

"What's Snape doing?" Ron handed the binoculars to Hermione. Looking through them she saw Snape muttering something. Suddenly she saw a brief flash of light in the corner of the binoculars.

"—It appears that Potter is back under control of his broom—"Lee Jordan's voice was heard over the magical microphone, "—Gryffindor still leads 130-60—"

"I'm not sure what Professor Snape was doing," Hermione said handing the binoculars back to her red headed friend.

-----------------------------------

The party in Gryffindor Common Room was enormous. Harry caught the Snitch just as Katie scored a fourteenth time for Gryffindor so the cup standings had Gryffindor in a commanding lead with 190 points followed by Ravenclaw with 120, Slytherin with 60, and Hufflepuff bringing up the rear with 50.

Harry was carried around the room by Fred and George like he was a king for a good twenty minutes before he was put back down and the twins disappeared for a bit, bringing back sweets when they reappeared. Percy looked as if he were to scold them for a moment, but then he just took three Chocolate Frogs and pretended like he was blissfully unaware of the ruckus being caused by everyone else. Though Percy was probably Harry's least favorite Weasley, he did know when to let things slide a bit. Though when the party dragged until midnight he began rounding up younger students and sending them to bed.

------------------------------------

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked looking around the Great Hall at dinner time.

"I think she's in the bathroom," Neville Longbottom said over his potatoes. Suddenly Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Great Hall.

"T-T-Troll in the dung-g-g-eon!" he stammered as loudly as he could. Everyone looked at him for a moment before he said, "Thought you ought to know," and fainted.

It took Professor Dumbledore firing sparks from his wand to restore order. Prefects were ordered to take their charges back to the Common Rooms and everyone else return to the dormitories.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron said as he, Harry, and Neville got in line with the rest of the Gryffindor first years behind Percy.

"In the bathroom," Harry and Neville looked at each other as they said this.

"We gotta find her!" Ron said.

Ducking into the shadows, Harry, Ron, and Neville moved away from the hoards of students and began checking the lavatories for Hermione.

"How far away did she go?" Ron wondered as they proceeded to the second floor.

"No idea," Neville panted trying to keep up with the much more in shape boys. Suddenly they spotted the troll entering a room down a corridor.

"Suppose we could lock it in there," Harry suggested. The three boys hurried to the door, shutting it and bracing the door.

"I guess we should find a teacher," Ron said. "Uh, guys," Neville pointed to the door. Harry and Ron looked at what Neville was pointing. They had just locked the troll in a girl's bathroom. The boys glanced at each other for a second before ripping the brace they had just put on the door off and burst into the bathroom.

Hermione was huddled in the farthest corner of the room staring up at the troll in absolute terror. The troll had its club raised and appeared to be aiming for her. Ron whipped out his wand and shouted the first spell to come to his mind.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

The trolls club left its hand as it swung down and hung in the air over its head. This confused the troll and it looked up, which Ron took as a cue to drop the club neatly on the trolls head. The resulting _clunk_ as club connected with troll skull echoed throughout the bathroom. "Cool," Neville said, as the boys watched the troll turn toward them and fall flat on its face out cold.

There was a clapping sound off to the side and the four first year Gryffindors turned their heads to see where it was coming from. Robert Munro stood leaning against the wall, applauding the scene in front of him. "Are you everywhere?" Hermione asked as Ron helped her up, "I mean you were in that corridor with Fluffy and now you're here, in a _girl's bathroom_ might I add, both times one of us were in trouble."

Robert was about to answer when Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Quirrell came running up. "Goodness, what happened?" McGonagall panted, catching her breath.

"Well I overheard Longbottom, Potter, and Weasley talking about Granger being in a bathroom somewhere when Professor Quirrell came running into the Great Hall about the troll," Robert said, "so I grabbed them and began searching the bathrooms to find Granger. We found her in here, obviously, with the troll. Weasley took first action performing a rather impressive Levitation Charm lifting the trolls club from its hand and smacking it over the head with it and that's when you came in."

"Really?" McGonagall said, looking at Ron with an appraising eye. She surveyed the bathroom. "Minimal damage," she said, "If you boys and Miss Granger would kindly return to your common room. The teachers will get this sorted out. And ten points to Mr. Weasley for the Levitation Charm."

Robert led Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione away from the bathroom. "Rob," Harry asked, "what's your job in Hogsmeade?"

"I'm supposed to look after a few very important items," Robert said with a wink.

"In other words me?" Harry said.

"Yeah," Robert nodded vigorously.

They got back to the Gryffindor Common Room entrance and gave the password (pig snout) and Robert waved goodbye to them and began walking down the hall in a rather strange manner, kicking his leg up over his head as he stepped forward with his right leg and kicking himself in the butt with his left every alternate step.

"And that there was a rather qualified Auror," Harry commented as they climbed through the entrance hole in the wall.

"Does he always act like that?" Neville asked.

"Yes," Harry told him, "All the time."

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Christmas was coming up rapidly and Professor McGonagall came into the Gryffindor Common Room with a signup sheet for any student who was staying over Christmas Break. Harry and Ron both signed up, the Weasley parents were visiting the second oldest son Charlie in Romania where he worked with dragons and Gabriel had work to do. Since Robert was in Hogsmeade and would undoubtedly randomly show up during the break Harry didn't feel too bad, and the other Weasley boys were staying as well so Ron wasn't alone either.

Seamus Finnigan was going to stay with his friend Dean Thomas for the holidays, Neville was going with his grandmother to see relatives, and Hermione was going home. With the distinct lack of people around, Harry and Ron decided that it would be a good time to be looking through the library to find Nicholas Flamel. Hagrid had let slip that he had something to do with what Fluffy was guarding on the third floor corridor. They were especially interested because it seemed like someone (they suspected Snape) seemed to be trying to get past the dog. Unfortunately none of the library books they checked seemed to have any information on said Nicholas Flamel and now that they wanted to talk with Robert to have him impart his knowledge on them he was nowhere to be found.

"Too bad it's so uneventful here," Ron joked, "Could use a troll or a hag right about now."

The two of them were sitting in the Common Room playing Wizards Chess, a game exactly like regular chess with the exception that the pieces moved on their own and beat each other up when they tried to occupy the same square. Harry was starting to be able to hold his own against Ron, who hadn't lost to anyone yet even a few seventh years, but only because his chess pieces were giving him advice as they played.

Christmas morning found a heap of presents at the foot of Ron and Harry's beds. Each got a Weasley sweater, patented by Ron's mother, homemade fudge; Ron got a load of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione with a note "Hope Agrippa is in one of them", and Harry got Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans; Ron was surprised to find new school robes from Harry's family amongst his presents and even more surprised to find that they were the correct size; Harry received a Risk board from Robert with a note telling him to try and beat Ron at this, and Hagrid sent him a photo book with pictures of his parents in them.

The boys were setting their gifts to the side when Harry noticed another gift at the foot of his bed. Unwrapping it he found a thin, silvery cloak. "Wicked!" Ron exclaimed, "That's an Invisibility Cloak you've got there! Who sent it?"

"Don't know," Harry told him, putting the cloak on and getting a shock when his entire body with the exception of his head disappeared. The cloak was a little big, ok it was rather big, on him and several things on the floor were also partially hidden under the coat.

Ron searched the wrappings the cloak had come in and found a brief note. "You're father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was passed on to you. Use it well. A very Merry Christmas to you." Ron read off the little piece of paper. The boys looked at each other and a grin spread across their faces.

"I believe a trip to the Restricted Section of the Library is in order," Harry smirked as he put the cloak into his trunk. Just then Fred and George burst into the room each wearing a Weasley sweater, ordering Ron and Harry to put theirs on and come help them fetch Percy so that they could all go to the Great Hall in their new sweaters for breakfast.

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Ron and Harry snuck into the Restricted Section of the Library later that night under the cover of the invisibility cloak. "Freaky stuff," Ron said as they went through the books, some of which were so old they didn't touch them for fear of them falling apart. Other books had strange noises coming from them like they were possessed and others had some red substance that looked an awful lot like blood. "If I were information on Nicholas Flamel where would I put myself?" Harry asked himself.

"Try the back of a Chocolate Frog card," Robert's voice came from behind them. Ron and Harry spun around to see Robert leaning against a bookshelf reading an aging book. "You should read this sometime," he said to them returning the book to the shelf, "has heaps of information on dark magic. Careful with that knowledge though. The knowledge in that book is quite dangerous."

"What are you doing here?" both boys blurted at the same time.

"Helping you out," Robert said, pulling a card from his pocket, "Look at this."

Harry and Ron looked at the card, "It's a Dumbledore Chocolate Frog card," Harry said as-a-matter-o-factly.

"I know," Robert said, "Read the back."

Harry turned the card over to the biography side. "Considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragons blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicholas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten pin bowling."

"How is this supposed to help us?" Harry asked.

"Harry," Ron pointed to the card, "we've found Flamel."

Harry reread the card, his eyes opening as he read about Professor Dumbledore's work with Nicholas Flamel in alchemy. "Didn't Hermione check out a library book on alchemy before leaving?" he asked.

"I bet that's where we'll find what we want," Ron said.

"I imagine you will," Robert told the boys, "but for now there's something I would like to show you boys." He tapped his wand to the top of his head and vanished almost entirely Harry could still see a shimmer where he was. The boys put the Invisibility Cloak back on and followed the shimmer out of the library and into an unused class room a short ways away.

Robert became visible again and the boys took off the cloak. In a corner of the room there was a large elegant mirror. Harry walked up to it and saw his reflection and…_his parents?_ He glanced behind him; perhaps his parents were ghosts and were standing behind him. Nobody was there except for Robert and Ron.

"What is it that you see?" Robert asked him. "Mum…and Dad…," Harry murmured, "They're not very clear so I thought that they were ghosts behind me but they aren't there."

"Interesting," Robert said, "Let Ron have a look." Harry stepped back wondering what this mirror was and Ron stepped up to the mirror.

"What do you see?" Robert asked. "I'm older," Ron said slowly, "and I'm wearing…a Head Boy's badge, like Bill used to wear…and I'm holding the Quidditch Cup. I'm…Gryffindor Team Captain!" He turned to Robert a little excited. "Does this mirror show the future?" he asked the older boy.

"No," Robert told them leading them over to some chairs and sitting them down, himself across from them, "That is the Mirror of Erised. It shows the looker their hearts deepest and darkest desires. The happiest person in the world could look in the mirror and see themselves exactly as they are no changes. Harry never knew his parents so that is what he sees in the mirror. However, since he has family and friends who love him the image is faded and the draw to the mirror is most likely less than it would be if he had grown up with a family who resented his existence."

"Ron on the other hand has been growing up in the shadow of his brothers," Robert nodded to Ron, "So when he looks in the mirror he sees himself out shining all of them. While his brothers have been Head Boy and Quidditch Captain, none of them have been both."

"What would you see if you looked in the mirror?" Harry asked. Robert sighed and walked over to the mirror.

"I see myself standing in the middle of a dance floor. A girl is standing next to me. We are dancing an Irish Jig from the looks of it." Harry nodded understanding. Robert had been so busy with school and then his job as an Auror that he had never had much of a girlfriend before.

"I showed you this for a couple reasons," Robert said, "But mainly because I think that it's an impressive piece of magic. I don't recommend coming here again. I hear Dumbledore is planning to have it moved to a new position soon."

"I wonder what Dumbledore would see," Ron speculated. "I'm sure he'd tell you if you asked him," Robert said with a grin.

---------------------------

Hermione was rather excited when Ron and Harry told her they had found Flamel, and quite surprised when they told her that the information on him was probably in the book she had checked out of the library before the holidays. Sure enough, Flamel was in it and the trio found out that he was the creator of something called the Sorcerer's Stone, a substance that turns any substance into gold and produced the Elixir of Life. Harry then remembered that Hagrid had taken a small grubby little package from a Gringotts vault when he and Robert had gone shopping in Diagon Alley at the beginning of the year. He suspected that it was the Sorcerer's Stone and that it was what Fluffy was guarding on the third floor.

Harry had another Quidditch match, against Hufflepuff this time, he caught the snitch again rather quickly, it was released after about ten minutes, and extended the lead in the cup standings for Gryffindor. The standings now went Gryffindor with 310, Ravenclaw with 220, Hufflepuff overtook Slytherin for third with 70, and Slytherin was in last with 60 having been shut out by Ravenclaw in their match.

Harry learned to not completely rely on Robert to keep him out of trouble when he, Ron, and Hermione were caught smuggle a Norwegian Ridgeback that Hagrid hatched to the Astronomy Tower to be taken to Romania by Charlie Weasley and a few of his friends in the middle of the night. This resulted in a detention and a great many points taken from Gryffindor House, though Malfoy was given detention and points from Slytherin because he had been out past curfew as well to rat them out.

Detention was in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid who was tracking a unicorn killer. They found it and it appeared that the killer was drinking the blood to preserve its life. A centaur named Firenze saved Harry and as the two of them talked Harry realized that the person trying to get past Fluffy on the third floor corridor was Voldemort.

Exams came up much quicker than either Ron or Harry would have liked. Thankfully Hermione, while taking Roberts words to her about not holing herself up and studying her life away to heart, was still easily the top student in the year and managed to drag the boys through studying and not thinking about Fluffy and Voldemort.

Exams weren't terrible. Professor McGonagall even gave extra points out if you managed to make the mouse turn into and especially pretty snuffbox. Potions was a bit of a nightmare with Snape breathing down their necks as they put together a Forgetfulness Potion. Charms was a simple demonstration of a variety of spells that they had learned over the year, Seamus got bonus points for not blowing anything up during the exam, he was rather glad that Flitwick had a sense of humor. The only student to outscore Hermione in Herbology was Neville, whom everyone went to when they had a question on their homework. Defense Against the Dark Arts didn't turn out to be as much of a joke as Harry had thought at the beginning of the year and Professor Quirrell's exam was much harder than he anticipated, but was still easy enough.

Hermione tried to go over each exam after they were done, especially the History of Magic test, but she never managed to get far as Ron and Harry kept coming up with ways to shut her up and after the last test Robert had come out of nowhere with a pie and stuck it in her face. She stood there for a moment not moving, Ron and Harry expecting her to suddenly explode with angry embarrassment but instead she just lowered the pie and licked her lips. "Raspberry Cobbler," she said, "Rather good too." Robert handed her a towel to wipe her face off with and a fork and she happily ate it as the trio walked back to their Common Room.

On a bad note Harry's scar kept hurting. Harry figured that it was some kind of warning. Hermione and Ron thought that some tea at Hagrid's would help and Harry didn't see anything wrong with that. So after all their exams were complete they trooped down to Hagrid's hut.

"Hello ther'," Hagrid greeted them as they walked up, "Exams done, eh? Come by fer some tea?" They nodded and sat down at Hagrid's table as he brought out cups and made some tea.

"Hagrid," Harry said, suddenly realizing something, "The person who gave you the dragons egg, what did he look like?"

"Dunno," Hagrid said, "wore a cloak and had 'is hood up the entire time. Never got a good look at 'is face. Kept buy'n me drinks too. Asked questions 'bout Fluffy. Not suprised tho' seein' as ther' aren't too many three headed dogs around. Told 'im the firs' thin' yeh had to know when dealing with a magical creature that is considered dangerous is ta know 'ow to calm it. Fluffy as you've seen goes to sleep when you play quiet music…"

"Did you tell him that?" Ron asked.

"I'd had a bit too many by tha' point so yeah," Hagrid told them.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione left Hagrid's rather quickly after they finished their tea. "You think it's Snape?" Ron asked as they walked back to the Common Room.

"Has to be," Harry said, "He threatened Quirrell a while ago to not make enemies with him, probably in retaliation for warning the school about the troll he let in. He was limping the day after the troll came I think he might have been bitten by Fluffy. He's one of the teachers who've put protections on the Stone so he knows what he's up against. It all fits."

"And with exams over he doesn't need to be planning anything for tomorrow!" Ron exclaimed, "He's probably going there tonight!"

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Robert sat in the shadowy corner of the Gryffindor Common Room watching Neville Longbottom summon his courage for what he was about to do. Hermione Granger had snuck up the stairs to the boys dormitory a few minutes ago and Harry, Ron, and herself were probably only moments away from coming back down and heading off to face Quirrell. Robert sighed as he remembered that the trio of youngsters suspected that it was Snape who was after the Stone, but he knew that it couldn't be helped.

He also knew, as he listened to them walk down the stairs, that he couldn't interfere with what they were about to do unless they were in mortal danger. And considering what traps the teachers had set up, mortal danger was going to be quite difficult to determine so if and when the moment arose he was going to need to act quickly.

He smirked to himself as Neville stood up to his friends, telling them that enough points had been lost for Gryffindor House already and they didn't need to lose more for them. Neville had potential, Robert thought, all he needed was the right prodding and he probably could rival Ron or Harry. He watched Hermione set a full body bind hex on Neville, watching him go rigid and fall backwards.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the Common Room, putting the Invisibility Cloak on as they left. Robert rose from his seat and walked over to Neville. He flicked out his wand and pointed it at Neville.

"_Finite Incantantum," _he muttered and Neville immediately regained mobility.

"C'mon we've gotta stop them," he grabbed Robert and tried to pull him through the door. Robert pulled a spray bottle out of his coat and sprayed the sleeping potion in Neville's face, sending the boy to sleep instantly.

"No, Neville," he said as he carried the sleeping boy up to his bed, "_I've_ got to go make sure they live through this. _You've_ got to get a good night's sleep; I dare say you've been working rather hard to pass all of your exams." Placing Neville in his bed he used his wand to tuck him in and returned to the Common Room.

It wasn't easy being the older brother of Harry Potter. He had to watch the boy closely to make sure that he didn't get himself killed, but he also had to allow the boy to live. Gabriel had tasked him with this job after he graduated from the Masonic School of Magic two now going on three years ago. Robert decided that this year had easily been the hardest of the last three with Harry at school. He found it quite ironic that Voldemort began his quest to regain his former strength the same year his younger brother went off to Hogwarts.

But that didn't matter to Robert. All that mattered was that Harry had to be kept relatively safe. The only thought going through Roberts mind as he followed his charge through the trap door that Fluffy guarded was… 'I wonder what Danica Mathis is doing right now.'

---------------------------------

Robert was impressed. Hermione got the boys passed the Devil's Snare with ease using an Incendiary Charm, though both boys had to loudly remind her that she was a witch and didn't need kindling to start a fire. The three of them worked well together on the broom in the next room to retrieve the flying key to the door, considering Harry was the only one with a whole lot of experience on a broom followed by Ron who had a little and Hermione with almost none. Ron had breezed through the giant game of chess, though he did get himself knocked out by the opposing sides queen (he chuckled when Hermione almost abandoned her square to go to him), and Hermione managed to figure out the riddle to the potions and fire room.

Robert had revived Ron by the time Hermione was returning from Snape's logic problem. The two of them were quite surprised to see him.

"Why didn't you help us?" Hermione asked him.

"There's a difference between helping you and doing it for you," Robert told her, "And that difference is vague enough I wasn't going to try and cross it. If you had been in any sort of mortal danger I would have intervened. Now Professor Dumbledore has been alerted and is on his way back to the castle, he should be here any minute. This staircase over there will lead you to the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore and I will bring Harry once we're finished here." The two of them hurried on and Robert patiently waited for Dumbledore to arrive.

He knew that Quirrell couldn't hurt Harry. Yes, there were some perks to being an older brother. And one of them was the fact that you knew just about everything when it came to your little brother.

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The whole incident with Quirrell and the Mirror of Erised still haunted Harry a week later when Madam Pomfrey finally let him out of the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore had explained everything that had happened as soon as Harry woken up. Had his mother's sacrifice really been the only thing that saved him when Voldemort tried to kill him ten years ago? The magic at work was far too complicated for Harry to understand. Maybe Robert would know…

Harry sat with his friends in the Great Hall for the Closing Feast and Dumbledore rose to give his closing speech and to announce this year's winner of the house cup. "Another year gone, and what a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are fuller than they were…but don't worry you have the whole summer to empty them out so that the process can be resumed next September."

"Now then, it is time to announce the final standings for the House Cup: Gryffindor in fourth with three hundred and twelve; Hufflepuff is third with three hundred fifty two; Ravenclaw, second with four hundred twenty-six; and Slytherin in first with four hundred and seventy-two."

The applause from the Slytherin table was slightly revolting. However, Dumbledore wasn't done yet.

"I hate to interrupt a celebration," he said, quieting everyone down, "but the year isn't quite done yet and I believe we have a few last minute points to award. First I would like to award Mr. Ronald Weasley for a most spectacular game of chess: fifty points."

Ron's face grew rather red. It didn't help that the entire Gryffindor table was cheering their heads off and patting him on the back. Somewhere Harry could hear Percy yelling about his little brother getting past Professor McGonagall's giant chess set.

"Second," Dumbledore continued as silence resumed, "to Miss Hermione Granger for a stunning show of cool logic in the face of intense heat: fifty points."

Hermione started crying, either because she was embarrassed for having this announced in front of the entire school or because she was so happy to get the recognition.

"Third," Dumbledore continued when the second outburst of applause quieted, "to Mr. Harry Potter for outstanding courage and bravery in the face of mortal danger: sixty points."

All the House tables except Slytherin were screaming at this point: Gryffindor was now tied with Slytherin.

"It appears we have a tie for the championship," Dumbledore announced over the noise, "this hasn't happened in many years. I believe the teachers must discuss the matter amongst themselves for a moment before we can come to a decision."

"If I may put in an interjection," a voice cut across the Great Hall. Every head turned to see Robert Munro leaning against the entrance doors, a calm smile on his face and a glass of pumpkin juice in his hand. "It takes a great deal of courage to stand up against your adversaries," he continued, "but it takes a great deal more courage to stand up for what you believe is right, even if it means standing against your friends who believe otherwise. For this I would like to recommend the award of ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

"Do the teachers agree?" Dumbledore asked, looking around the staff table. The teachers nodded, even Professor Snape to the amazement of everyone. "Then I announce Gryffindor House as the winner of this year's House Cup!" Dumbledore announced, "And I believe a slight change in decoration is in order." He clapped his hands and the green and silver banners hanging from the ceiling waved violently and changed to red and gold.

The noise was deafening. Even though Hufflepuff had moved from second to last to last because of the recent points they were quite possibly cheering as loud, but definitely not louder than, the Gryffindor's. Everyone was happy to witness the downfall of Slytherin's dominance in the House Cup Standnings.

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"We'll see you next year Harry," Dean, Seamus, and Neville moved away from Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they exited the Hogwarts Express. They had the whole summer ahead of them and even though the teachers had given them over the summer homework to do, everyone was excited. Ron had invited Harry and Hermione over to the Burrow, the Weasley household, for a good chunk of the summer if they could make it. Harry was sure that Gabriel would let him and Robert would enjoy being around the Weasley twins. Hermione wasn't sure if she'd make it, though.

Outside the barrier were the Weasley's with little Ginny, Harry admitted to himself, for the sister of his best friend she was rather cute. 'Great, one more thing that I don't understand,' Harry thought as Gabriel and Hermione's parents showed up, 'maybe Gabriel or Robert will explain why I'm thinking like this sometime.'

So with well wishes and heartfelt goodbyes, everyone parted ways for the summer. Though if Roberts mad grin on his face as Harry told Gabriel about the last few weeks of school and asked what was up with his thoughts concerning Ginny Weasley being cute had anything to do with, well, anything, the summer was going to quite eventful to say the least.

* * *

_I ask that you review my work. It really does help immensly, I don't think I spelled that right...oh well._

_So did you like it? Let me know, please review._


	4. Chamber of Secrets part I

Ok, I made a few changes to the story, as you might have noticed. I never really agreed with the whole concept of Quidditch, mainly the Seeker. Having a single person have the power to win or lose the game for you is a bit ludicrous and there isn't a sport out there that would have such a position. It would be like American Football having all the normal rules of play except there is a twelfth player whose job it is to steal the flag from the referee's pocket and make it to the end zone before being caught to win his team an extra 70 points. I think the concept of the Seeker was only made to have Harry be in a slightly glorified position. No offense to Mrs. Rowling but I have changed the nature of the position to be, in my opinion, slightly more realistic. I should also apologize for having a reference to Schindler's List at this point in the story as the time frame of the story puts it about two years before the movie came out in reality. Oh, well. This is Fanfiction I think we can deal with it.

* * *

"Ah, Gabriel," Dumbledore greeted his friend, "do come in. What can I do for you?"

"Nothing really," Gabriel said told the aging Headmaster, "But I thought it would be good to talk about Harry seeing as what happened last year."

"I agree," Dumbledore said, "Voldemort is back on the move. We need to plan our next move carefully."

"And I need to make sure that Severus doesn't continue with his grudge against Harry," Gabriel said, "whatever James did to upset Severus doesn't give him the right to act the way he does to James' son. I realize you trust him, Albus, I trust him too. But friends must help their friends heal their pasts."

"But what can we do for that?" Dumbledore said, stirring his tea, "You know as well as I do how much Severus and James hated each other. And the fact that Lily was involved made the whole situation far worse."

"Lily," Gabriel mused, "That gives me an idea…Doesn't Severus keep a photo of her?"

"Indeed he does," Dumbledore replied, "A photo that hasn't smiled at him in nearly fifteen years."

The two friends exchanged a look and grinned at each other. "Well then, first order of business has been solved," Dumbledore chuckled, "moving on to the second order of business."

"Right then," Gabriel said, "A house elf by the name of Dobby has been nicking Harry's letters in the hope that he won't want to return here for his second year because his friends abandoned him. Told Harry something about there going to be a great danger at Hogwarts School this year; any theories?"

"None at the moment," Dumbledore said, "But I'm going to say I'm glad I hired the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that I did." The men shared another smile and laughed with each other before carrying on to other subjects like "Doesn't Robert have a girlfriend now?"

--------------------

Harry sat at the table with Ron at the Burrow. They were going over the last of their homework before going out for a quick game of Quidditch. "Ron why is it that Ginny keeps squeaking and running off when she comes into a room that I'm in?" Harry asked.

"I think she has a bit of a crush on you, mate," Ron said in a quiet voice, leaning in toward Harry, "She has for years if you ask me. Have I mentioned that there are bedtime stories about you defeating You-Know-Who? Mum's been telling them to her since forever. I think she still likes to hear them."

"I didn't know that," Harry said just as quietly, "I guess that would explain the squeaking. Pity really, she'd be a lot cuter if she actually managed to stay put and…"

"You're not admitting to a slight crush on my sister are you?" Ron looked at Harry suspiciously. "Um, no, I, uh, just think she's…cute…that's really all there is to it," Harry stammered turning bright red. Ron nodded and rolled up his parchment, having completed his essay. "Just so you know," he said, "Bill is rather protective of her."

For the life of Harry he had no idea what Ron was talking about or why Robert was sitting over in the corner of the kitchen laughing his head off. But he was quickly distracted as Fred and George came into the kitchen asking if anyone wanted to help de-gnome the garden. Harry had never seen such a thing before and eagerly followed Ron and the twins outside.

"Now this isn't the usual way that we de-gnome the garden," Fred told Harry.

"Robert has been plotting with us on new ways to do this," George continued.

"After much deliberating work," Fred said.

"This is our master piece," George told them, holding up a firework for Fred to light.

He chucked it into the garden and it exploded in a giant flash of purple light. Suddenly there were muffled shouts of something yelling "gerroff me!" and a great deal of tussling in amongst the various plants. Ropes began rising from the garden and Harry noticed that they were attached to a catapult like thing a few meters away. The ropes went taut and there was a loud ripping noise as a cloud of small gnome-like (hehe, gnomes being gnome-like) creatures were yanked into the air with loops wrapped around their feet. The catapult swung them around in the air several times before completely letting go of the rope and the cloud sailed a good two hundred feet before returning to Earth.

"Beautiful," George was wiping his eyes on with his sleeve, "absolutely beautiful."

"Odd," Fred scratched his chin, "Robert was said that it would go farther than that. Oh, well, we'll just have to make a few modifications to it before they get back later this summer." He looked at Harry who was staring in the direction of where the cloud went with a look of disbelieving horror on his face.

"Oh, don't worry about them," he told Harry, "Garden gnomes are hardy creatures, but not very bright. They all come up to see what's going on when the de-gnoming process starts and they can't find their way back very well when it's over. That probably hurt them a little more than usual but they'll all be back by the end of the summer. However by then all the plants will be gone anyway so it won't matter until next spring that they're here."

They all turned to see Mrs. Weasley rushing out to them clutching a book. "What was all that noise?" she demanded, "I thought you were de-gnoming the garden. You did use Gilderoy Lockhart's proper method of de-gnoming did you?"

"No, mum," George rolled his eyes at Mrs. Weasley, "we used Robert Munro's unusual method of de-gnoming the garden and not only did it go faster but will be far more effective than anything ol' Lockhart has in that book of his."

"Oh, so Robert knows better than Gilderoy, eh?" Mrs. Weasley huffed, "if he knew better than why doesn't he write a book about it?"

"Because he doesn't need to," Robert said calmly walking up behind them, "and before you go off into the greatness of Gilderoy Lockhart I think you should know that he's currently under a rather intensive Fraud investigation. We have reason to believe that he never actually did any of the things he has written about in his books."

"Then why are they still out?" Mrs. Weasley suddenly became rather red, "If they're still on the shelves wouldn't that mean that he's…"

"Yes it could mean that he's really done all the things he's said he's done," Robert said, munching on a carrot, "but it could also mean that the investigation hasn't been completed yet."

Mrs. Weasley just looked at Robert. "That's the fifteenth carrot you've eaten this morning," she said, "how many of those do you go through in a day?"

"I eat so many of these I can't sleep at night," Robert told her, taking a large bite out of the carrot.

"Why?"

"I can see through my eyelids."

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes at the younger man as she walked back to the Burrow and the boys stood there laughing.

----------------------------

"So this Dobby, creature, house elf did you say, came to your house and warned you against going back to Hogwarts," Hermione said to Harry as she, Harry, and Ron sat outside the ice-cream shop in Diagon Alley.

"Yeah and he was also nicking all the letters you two were sending me," Harry told them." The trio were enjoying their ice-creams as Mrs. Weasley took Ginny to get some robes, Percy was at Flourish and Blott's, Mr. Weasley had taken the Mr. and Mrs. Granger to the Leakey Caldron for a drink, and the twins had disappeared with their friend Lee Jordan to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop.

"I wonder what it is," Ron murmured. "Well, Gabriel went to Dumbledore as soon as Dobby talked with me and I think they're looking into it," Harry said, "I wonder who the DADA teacher is going to be this year. Has an interesting book if you ask me, what was it, here's the list, ah yes: _In Shade and Shadow: Volume II_ by Giles Mooris. Sounds kinda dark if you ask me."

"Yeah the higher year's books are like that too," Ron said, "Percy's N.E.W.T. level book is _Dunkle Magie_ by Giles Mooris. The new teacher must be a fan."

"Well it's a good thing the teacher's a fan," Hermione said, "I've already read part of our book," the boys gave her scathing looks, for which she just rolled her eyes, "and it's quite good. I'm surprised that second year students are getting it, it seems rather advanced."

"What does?" Robert asked walking up to them.

"The DADA book," Hermione told him.

"_In Shade and Shadow_?" Robert perked an eyebrow, "Please, that's elementary stuff. From what Dad told me, first through fifth years at Hogwarts are buying one of the four volumes."

"But it's really complicated stuff," Hermione prodded, "I mean, I haven't even heard of…"

"Of course you haven't heard of any of the spells, Hermione," Robert said sitting down next to her, "That's because the teacher this year is supposed to do just that: _teach them to you_. Studying your brain out of your skull will only get you so far. When Dumbledore was in school he spent half his later years in the offices of his professors asking them questions, his DADA teacher actually took him out into the field a few times with a couple other students to give them field experience."

Hermione blinked a few times, turned pink, and began hurriedly eating her ice-cream. "Oh, Robert," Ron said, "I've been meaning to ask you this but kept forgetting. I caught Scabbers chewing on my wand a few nights ago and it looks a little worse for wear." He pulled out his wand, showing the young man the state of his wand. "Is there any way to repair it?" he asked tentatively.

"There are ways to repair a wand," Robert said assessing the damaged wand, "but with the wear and tear on the wand plus the newly added damage I'd say the best choice for you would to just get a new one." Ron got rather red and mumbled something. "What was that?" Robert said, "I'm only fluent in Rapid-Fire-English not Too-Quiet-To-Understand-English."

"I said Mum and Dad don't have enough money to get me a new wand," Ron mumbled a little louder. Harry remembered from his purchase of a wand that wands weren't terribly expensive, so why would purchasing a new one be so costly? He blushed to himself as he remembered that the Weasley's didn't make a whole lot of money and most of what they bought was second hand material.

"What is that man doing?" Robert asked looking off into the crowd. Harry and Hermione looked in the direction that Robert had looked but couldn't see any unusual activity that Robert might have noticed. "Sorry, who were you looking at?" Harry asked, turning around.

He blinked.

Ron and Robert had simply vanished.

Where they used to be was a note reading _"Have taken Ron to Ollivander's. Be back as soon as we're done. Feel free to move about, don't worry, I'll find you. Robert."_

"How does he do that?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Do what? Vanish suddenly and reappear when you're least expecting it?" Harry quirked an eyebrow at his friend, "Honestly I have no idea. All I can say is that Robert is very good at what he does."

"And what he does is being rather silly?" Hermione asked, liking her ice-cream. "Well, that's one of the things he does," Harry replied, "He also…" "You don't have to tell me," Hermione told him, "Knowing the older brothers of some of my Muggle friends I don't think I want to know."

_BANG_

Harry and Hermione whipped their heads around to the source of the noise. It had come from Flourish and Blott's, where a great many people were now screaming. Running to the store, the two twelve year olds discovered several Aurors, including Gabriel Munro, trying to calm people down. Thankfully it didn't take very long and Gabriel spotted Harry standing there with Hermione and walked over to them.

"I bet you're wondering what this was all about," Gabriel said, watching as the two kids nodded vigorously. He chuckled, "Turns out that Gilderoy Lockhart was guilty of Fraud. He would go around interviewing witches and wizards who had done great things, recently so the story wasn't out yet, and Obliviate them taking the credit for himself. He was here autographing books and a few Aurors and lesser Magical Law Enforcement Officials came and rounded him up. We had to remove him quickly because we didn't want him to suddenly slip away and leave no trace of himself ever being here. That and the fact that there were hundreds of fans here for his book signing made it a good way to make an embarrassing arrest."

"He won't get sent to Azkaban will he?" Hermione looked terrified. Gabriel looked at her, sighed, and knelt down to look her in the face.

"Miss Granger," he said to her, "I've just told you that Mr. Lockhart has been arrested for Fraud. If you're worried about his well being, it's probably because you, along with two thirds of the rest of the witches out there, have an infatuation with him. No, he won't go to Azkaban, that's reserved for high security criminals like Death Eaters. He'll most likely end up in Gamling, a medium security prison for lesser crimes. By the way, where's Ron?"

"Rob took him to Ollivander's to get him a new wand," Harry told his adoptive father.

"How nice of him," Gabriel said, "Let's go find the rest of our crew shall we?"

"Oh there you are!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, hurrying toward them, "What happened? Where's Ron?"

"It appears that the Ministry has taken Gilderoy Lockhart into custody," Mr. Weasley said as he walked up with the Grangers, he looked rather smug, but hid it as his wife looked at him.

"My, my, Arthur you look rather pleased," a voice drawled off to the left. Harry turned to see Draco Malfoy and a man who appeared to be his father walking toward them. "Pleasant day, isn't it Lucius," Mr. Weasley said in a cold voice.

"Indeed it is," Mr. Malfoy said, "And who do we have here? The only Weasley girl to be bread in six generations is it not? And what's this," he picked up the battered secondhand _Beginners Guide to Transfiguration_ from Ginny's caldron, "come now Arthur is this the best you can provide for your flock? Perhaps if you didn't disgrace yourself, spending time with Muggles, you might be able to land a position that paid well enough to buy a secondhand book written in this decade."

"I believe that there are other ways to disgrace a man, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley said in a voice that could freeze a lake, "Now if my daughter could have her book back," he snatched the book from Mr. Malfoy's hand with a movement so quick Harry barely saw it, "We'll be going our separate ways. I'll see you at work, Malfoy." "Indeed, Weasley," Mr. Malfoy sneered as he walked past them, bumping into Ginny slightly as he did so.

"Quite the unsavory character there," Gabriel commented as they watched the retreating backs of the Malfoys. "Yes, he is," Mr. Weasley said, putting the book back in Ginny's caldron, "Though I've recently been tipped off that there's an underground chamber somewhere in his house that I think I may have to investigate." He looked rather happy at that thought.

With everything else already taken care of, the entire troop walked to Ollivander's where Ron and Robert were just exiting with Ron's new wand, purchased by Robert.

-------------------------------------------

"Come along we're running late," Mr. Weasley hurried everyone along as they walked down platform nine in Kings Cross Station. Harry and Ron lagged behind everyone, taking a little more time to load their trolleys than the others. The other's quickly hurried through the barrier and Ron and Harry rushed for hit, only to collide with a rather solid brick wall. Apologizing profusely to the guard who came past, telling him that their trolleys went out of control, Ron and Harry began trying to figure out how they were going to get through.

"Maybe it's a malfunction," Ron suggested, "It'll be over in a moment." They kept testing the barrier every so often to see if it was back to, well, normal, but the barrier remained solid. "We've got to hurry, Harry," Ron groaned, "The train leaves in exactly one minute…"

----------------------------

"Well that's everyone," Arthur Weasley said as he watched his daughter board the Hogwarts Express.

"Hold on a minute, where's Ron and Harry?" Molly asked. They looked around, but didn't see either boy, and they weren't on the train either. "Gabriel have you or Robert seen either Ron or Harry?" Molly asked the Auror.

"Not lately," Gabriel admitted, "maybe they tipped a trolley over and are picking their things up." He walked over to the barrier leading to the outside world, placing his hand on it.

He froze.

"Stop the train," he ordered Robert, "STOP THE TRAIN RIGHT NOW!"

Robert whipped his wand out and swept it in a grand arc in front of him. The train wheels completely froze over and the train slide to a grinding halt. "What's all this about?!" a conductor shouted as he exited the train, "We've got a schedule to run on here! What's the hold up?"

"We have two students who have yet to board the train," Gabriel explained, "Arthur come over here I'm going to need some help with this."

"That's no excuse for completely stopping the train!" the conductor bellowed.

"It is when the barrier to the Muggle world is a solid wall and they're on the other side," Gabriel told him in a scathing voice, and the conductor shut up, turning a little pale as the Auror glared at him.

-------------------------

"It's past eleven o' clock, the train's left!" Ron moaned. "How are we going to get to Hogwarts now?" Harry asked him, "And why didn't Robert do something, I thought he was supposed to be watching out for me." "He's only your older brother," Ron told him, "Even if he's one of the best Aurors in the world he can still make mistakes." Harry grumbled a bit, knowing Ron was right.

Suddenly they felt a hand on their shoulders and looked up to see Gabriel standing next to them. "Come along," he ordered them as Robert and Mr. Weasley grabbed their trunks and school gear and rushed back through the barrier, "We prevented the train from leaving but we still need to move fast." He pulled the boys through the barrier and they rushed onto the train as Robert defrosted the train wheels.

---------------------------------

"Any ideas on what closed the barrier on us?" Harry asked Robert who had once again joined them for the trip to Hogwarts. "Sorry Harry," Robert told him, "This time I have just as much of an idea as you do." Ron, Harry, Hermione, Robert, and Ginny were sitting in a train compartment talking about random things, as well as trying to figure out why the train station incident happened. So far no one could figure out what had happened.

Harry had the Risk board that Robert had given him and the five of them were playing, with the pieces enchanted to not shift as the train lurched around. Unsurprisingly Ron won after about an hour of play. Robert intentionally lost all his armies to Ginny so she controlled half the board for a good portion of the game, and she also beat Hermione; Ron removed Harry from play so for a good twenty minutes it was sibling rivalry for the victory.

"You still have that job in Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked Robert as they closed in on their destination.

"No, not this year," Robert said with a small smile, "This year I have a different job. You'll figure out what I'm doing all in good time though."

"I can't wait for classes to start," Ginny said excitedly, "I've been dreaming about going here for years." Ginny had gotten a little more used to being around Harry and was able to be in the same room as him without squeaking and blushing. She still couldn't make eye contact with him without turning red or squeaking but it was an improvement.

Hermione and Ginny left for the lavatory as it started getting dark and the boys changed into their school robes in the compartment. Ginny left with Hagrid and the rest of the first year students after they arrived and Ron, Hermione, and Harry walked over to the … "Horseless carriages?" Harry exclaimed as they rode one to the castle.

------------------------

Harry clapped loudly as they watched Ginny get sorted into Gryffindor. The feast was incredible, just like last year, and like last year Dumbledore once again made an opening speech.

"Welcome back, to another year at Hogwarts. I'm hoping that you are enjoying your feast as much as Mr. Hagrid is here," Hagrid raised his goblet of pumpkin juice in a toast and many students followed suit, "But I'm afraid I must hold your attention for a few moments to give the typical start of the term announcements…"

At this point Hagrid, Professor Flitwick, and…Robert?...all broke out into song along the staff table:

"_Announcements, announcements, ANNOUNCEMENTS!"_

"_We hate announcements, we hate announcements"_

"_Make the announcements short and sweet, short and sweet, short and sweet. Make the announcements short and sweet because they're so BORING!"_

"_Row row row your boat gently down the steam. Throw the announcer overboard and listen to him scream!"_

Fred and George Weasley, along with Lee Jordan and several other students had joined in with them as they sang the song. Everyone in the Great Hall burst out laughing, including Professor Dumbledore who was pulling out a purple handkerchief to wipe his eyes on.

"Anyway," he continued as the laughter quieted, "I must remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is just that…_Forbidden_…and no student is to enter it without a teacher for any reason what so ever. Mr. Filch has put the list of banned items up on his office door as usual for anyone who wishes to consult it. Lastly I wish to introduce our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year: Professor Robert Munro."

There was a smattering of applause, Gabriel Munro was a famous Auror and even if he was American and this was England he was well known, so his son Robert Munro was relatively well known. Harry thought he could hear girls sighing and staring dreamily up at the staff table in Robert direction. Harry and Ron looked at each other. "What's that all about?" Harry asked. "I suspect that it's because your brother is young and good looking," Percy said from a few seats down.

------------------------------

Severus Snape glared at the young man sitting across from him in his office. "What is it that you wanted to speak with me about?" he asked. Robert started at him for a moment, "I understand that you keep a photo of young Lily Evans, mother of Harry Potter around here, might I be able to see it?" Snape seethed at the audacity of the young new professor before getting up and retrieving the photo, handing it to him.

"Ah, yes, she's a cute one isn't she?" Robert said, "I can see why you had a crush on her."

"Why you…" Snape snarled at the younger man, but was stopped as Robert turned the picture frame around revealing Lily Evans glaring mercilessly at Snape.

"I am also aware that you were quite good friends with her for a number of years at school before you joined up with the "Junior Death Eater" Club as they were dubbed by the other students," Robert went on, "That was when this photo began to not smile so brightly when it looked at you. Then you began referring to her kind as "Mudbloods" and bullied younger students. In short you were worse than the group of Gryffindor's who called themselves the Marauder's. They only used to pick fights with you because they were arrogant little berks, but then after your fifth year they started picking fights with you because they were preventing you from picking on the other students."

Snape controlled his breathing well, but his heart was racing. How was it that a young boy, barely out of school knew all this? Then he remembered. Gabriel. The boy's father was friends with Dumbledore. "What are you insinuating?" he sneered, though for some reason he feared what the boy would say.

"Did you really think that Lily would still want you? Want to be friends with you? After doing all that you did to the other students?" Robert growled, "I'm sorry to say that she wouldn't have fallen in love with you had things been different. Regardless of what she said to James Potter for the first five years at Hogwarts she actually did have a rather large crush on him. The fact that she hated the fact the way he acted only postponed their inevitable first date to their sixth year, after he deflated his head a bit. You still could have been friends. Possibly even become friends with James. He did, after all, save you from being mauled by a werewolf in your sixth year."

"What's your point?" Snape snarled. He hated the fact that he owed his life to James Potter; though he did feel that he had made up for it by preventing Quirrell from knocking Harry off his broom in his first match of the season last year.

"Dumbledore realizes that you hated James and most of Gryffindor House while you were at school," Robert said in an even tone, "However, taking your anger out on the current students by almost coddling the Slytherin's and deducting points and handing out detentions left and right for the most ludicrous reasons for the other three houses makes you no better than the Marauder's were. Actually, it makes you worse. Would Lily Evans have approved of such behavior?"

The question hit Snape in the face like someone had slapped him. Lily Evans. His childhood friend who turned against him. No. She didn't turn against him, Snape suddenly realized, he had turned against her. Joining the Death Eaters. Calling her a Mudblood. His loathing of his tormenters had blinded him from what really mattered to him, deep down: Lily Evans affections. From what Robert had just told him there was no way he would have claimed them, but he still could have talked with her. Loved her from afar. He looked up at the photo that he kept of her, cringing as he saw her icy glare directed toward him.

Robert rose and placed the picture frame down on Snape's desk. "It's late," he said, "and we both have classes to teach tomorrow. I suggest we retire for the night. But think about what I have said. And try to see what you can do to get this picture to smile at you again."

* * *

_Well this is shorter than the last few chapters but it felt like a good place to end the chapter._

_Everything going well? Did you like the little song?_

_I don't know if there are going to be many pranks happening in the story, but it appears that the readers are looking for them. I will need to review my funny material for Robert and take a deeper look into the Weasley twins to see what can be done about this._

_Anywho, let me know how I did, please review. Pretty please._


	5. Chamber of Secrets part II

Ok, it's taken me a bit to write this chapter. Needed to have some time to work a few funny moments in, unfortunetely I couldn't think of anything funny to do with Fred and George, hopefully I can think of more in the next book.

Anywho, enjoy:

* * *

"Hello, it's good to see you all here," Robert or rather Professor Munro said as he entered the classroom, "As you all know this is the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and I am the new teacher." He turned around and surveyed the class for a moment.

"Good afternoon," he said to them, "Though you can call me Robbie if you like I try to keep things informal around here. Now then, let's see, you're in here for an hour," he pulled out a rather elegant pocket watch and opened it, "So you get out when the big hand is on the four and the little hand is halfway between the six and seven."

There were a few giggles as he put the watch back into his pocket, "What was that?" he said scanning the room, "You think my watch is funny? I'll have you know my grandfather gave me that watch on his death bed. For thirty Galleons." There were a few more giggles as Robert said this.

"Now then, we will be starting with some of the more simple spells that you will find in the back of your book in the appendix. As we progress through the year we will get to some of the more complicated stuff in the front of the book. So if you all would turn to Appendix C we will begin our lesson and Mr. Malfoy why are you so late?"

Harry whipped his head around to see Malfoy saunter into the room about three minutes late. Malfoy, having a father as a school governor, believed that he could do almost anything he wanted at Hogwarts and get away with it. Professor Snape's behavior toward the Slytherin House only reinforced that belief. To have a teacher call him out for his behavior was probably a little unsettling.

"Uh, bathroom," Malfoy quickly answered.

"Very well," Robert said, "Budge along there, make room for Mr. Malfoy. Yes, yes, pardon you, pardon you," he said as Malfoy worked his way over to Pansy Parkinson, another second year Slytherin, "Don't worry, you haven't missed much. But I'm afraid you will never know who gave me this watch."

The class let out a suppressed laugh as Robert pulled his watch back out. "And you can't tell him Miss Parkinson," said Robert, pointing to Pansy as she turned her head toward Malfoy, "There'll be a quiz over this later. Now then, back to the lesson. Can anyone tell me what I have in these cages up at the front?"

The class looked at the seven small cages Robert had sitting up at the front of the room. To Harry, the creatures inside them looked like miniature, devilish looking, humans with wings. Several of them were thrashing around in the cage trying to get out, the one on the far left seemed barley alert. The one on the far right was making the most commotion.

"Yes, Miss Patil," Robert pointed to Pavarti Patil, a second year Gryffindor in the back of the room.

"Those are Forest Pixie's, Professor," she said.

"Excellent," Robert congratulated her, "Now as many of you are thinking, yes, Forest Pixie's aren't very dangerous creatures, hardly what you would need to defend yourself against. However you do have to look out for them if they swarm you. They're rather strong for their size: it would only take two of them to lift the largest of you lot into the air and hang you on the hook in the back of the room."

The entire class took a quick glance to the back of the room. The hook Robert was talking about was a good fifteen-twenty feet from the floor. "Forest Pixie's are also rather destructive, while we're on the subject, anybody wish to take a guess for how long it would take these seven pixies to completely dismantle the room if they were all as feisty as the one here on the right?" Robert continued.

He called on a Slytherin in the back, "Half an hour?" the boy sneered, obviously not thinking highly of the lesson.

"Try three minutes," Robert said, "and if you don't think that this lesson is educational enough for you you're more than welcome to leave the room." The boy turned bright red and looked down, avoiding eye contact from anyone.

"Now, given the size and speed of one of these little buggers," Robert moved on as if nothing had happened, "what spell do you think would be the most effective against them? Take a look through the Appendix for a moment and see if you can find a good one, there are a few." There was a short silence, only disturbed by the rustle of a page being turned.

"Times up," Robert announced, "Any guesses?" He looked around hopefully and called on Hermione first. "Stunning Spell?" she said.

"Alright, any more," Robert called on Dean Thomas.

"Freezing Charm?" he offered hopefully.

"Good, any other guesses."

A few more students offered what they thought were good spells. Robert then raised his hand for silence. "Very good," he complimented the class, "Fifteen points to Slytherin for their three spells and twenty for Gryffindor: fifteen for the spells and five for Miss Patil's identification. Now the spell that we're going to go over today will be the Freezing Charm, Mr. Thomas what is the incantation if you please."

"_Immobulos_," Dean said.

"Perfect," praised Robert, "Now the purpose of the Forest Pixie's here is going to be target practice. As we move from left to right the pixies gradually become more awake and aggressive. I doubt any of you will get to the seventh one, not because the spell is a difficult one to perform it's actually quick basic which is why it is taught in a student's second year, but because the Forest Pixie is a bloody hard thing to aim at. I shall demonstrate." He released the seventh pixie.

In an instant the pixie was tearing around the room grabbing people's hair, tossing books around and actually tried to lift one of the smaller students out of her chair. Robert followed the pixie around the room with his wand and finally said "_Immobulos,_" and the pixie dropped to the floor, completely immobile.

"As you saw, it took me a few minutes to get a good shot at the pixie because it was rather fast," Robert said, returning the pixie to the cage and removing the charm, "Do any of you think that you'd be able to hit that?" No one raised their hand. "As I thought, now I'm going to release one of the pixie's and call on people to freeze it so that you can get some target practice. If the class is exceptionally good, we might get all the way to the fourth pixie…"

-----------------------------------

"Your brother's amazing, mate!" Seamus told Harry at dinner.

"I was talking with Hannah Abbot and Ernie McMillian," Neville said, "The Hufflepuff's have had him twice. Said the second lesson was intense."

"But can you believe the homework?" Dean moaned, "'Search the Appendix and write an essay, two and a half feet long, about the various spells and their uses.'"

"Yeah, but he's giving out bonus points for creative uses," Ron piped up, "and knowing him these "creative uses" can be pretty farfetched."

"Did you hear what happened in the Slytherin Common Room?" Seamus asked excitedly, "Someone strung industrial strength toilet paper, the kind you'd expect to be used by trolls, all over the room. It took Professor Snape showing up to cut them out to let anyone out of the dormitories. I think Goyle tried to use his weight to break the paper and it just lifted him into the air and he couldn't get back down!"

"Who'd do a thing like that?" Hermione asked.

"I have a sneaking suspicion," Harry said, looking over at the Weasley twins who were laughing their heads off with Lee Jordan, "but then again it might not be who I think it is." He glanced up at the staff table. Robert was being interrogated by a rather cross looking Snape. Robert looked completely impassive and quite shocked. Snape must have been recounting the incident in the Common Room to him.

"Who do you think it was?" Ron asked as they left the Great Hall. "It was probably Fred and George being helped by Robert who gave them the Slytherin password and the toilet paper," Harry said, "And since Robert was helping them there is absolutely no evidence pointing to any of them."

The rounded a corner and nearly bumped into a group of students just standing in the corridor.

"What the hell's goin' on?" Ron muttered, peering around people. Suddenly he stopped dead cold, turning rather pale.

"What is it?" Harry shook his shoulder. Ron pointed at the wall, and Harry turned his head in the direction of his finger. He felt his body go cold and became a little nauseous.

_**THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE.**_

Next to the words, hanging from her tail, completely stiff, was Mrs. Norris, Filch the caretaker's cat. Faintly he heard someone yell "Enemies of the Heir Beware? You'll be next Mudbloods!" He turned his head, confirming his suspicion that it had been Malfoy to yell.

"Fifty points from Slytherin and detention for the rest of the year, Mr. Malfoy!" Robert barked as the staff started to push their way to the front of the crowd, "That's what I find funny!" Harry didn't laugh at his brother's statement. He didn't think he could find anything funny right now.

"What do you suppose the words are written in?" Professor Sprout wondered.

"It appears to be blood," Snape said, taking a vial from his robes and extracting a bit of the blood from the wall, "I will see if I can deduce what animal it came from." He turned to walk to his office and stopped short. "Rooster blood," he calmly stated.

"What tells you that?" McGonagall asked.

"Well the dead rooster lying over there is a bit of a give away," Snape pointed to the body of a rooster a short ways down the corridor.

At the same time Filch had showed up and was sobbing over the stiff body of his cat. "It's alright, Argus," Dumbledore told the aging caretaker, "She isn't dead. Just petrified."

"What's the difference?" Filch sobbed.

"The difference is that she is only mostly dead," Robert told him, "since she is slightly alive we can bring her back to full health. All dead and, well, there's only one thing you can do for all dead."

"What?"

"Search through the clothes and look for loose change."

A forced chuckle came from the students at Robert joke. The sudden noise reminded the professors of the presence of the students and the heads of houses began shooing their students back to the common rooms.

----------------------------------------

The next few weeks were a little subdued. Filch would spend a great deal of time, when he wasn't cleaning, sitting in a chair next to the place that Mrs. Norris had been found. Ginny, who loved cats, was constantly crying and Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn't get her to cheer up. Even Fred tried a few things, but was equally as unsuccessful.

The Weasley twins redoubled their efforts to come up with creative pranks, on all the Houses, which was greatly appreciated throughout the school and a few teachers actually gave points to them when they managed to turn an especially large staircase into a giant slip'n'slide.

However when a double attack happened a few weeks later on a Muggle-born Hufflepuff named Justin Finch-Fletchey and the Gryffindor House ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, the mood of the castle hit an all time low. The Weasley twins actually seemed to lose heart in their pranks and did them less often, but in reality they were just spending more time trying to figure out an especially funny one. In the end, a toilet in every bathroom exploded every hour on the hour without fail for two weeks. Hermione had a feeling that Robert had a hand in that considering the toilets instantly repaired themselves as soon as they finished exploding.

To make matters worse, Harry had been the one to find Justin and Nick as he had been following a strange hissing voice in the walls. While finding the two victims didn't get him into any sort of trouble, the fact that the voice disappeared just before he found them greatly disturbed him. He decided to talk with Robert about it, but unfortunately Robert wasn't sure what it meant either.

On a high note, Professor Binns seemed to have been deeply moved by the attack on Nearly Headless Nick, whom had been a great friend of his, and the History of Magic lessons suddenly became far more interesting. One lesson, in fact, was completely devoted to the legend of the so called Chamber of Secrets.

"Legend has it," he told Harry's class, "that Salazar Slytherin, founder of Slytherin House, created a secret chamber beneath the foundations of the castle. In it lies a great beast, though the legend does not specify what the great beast is. It could be a giant, a werewolf, or even sphinx for all we know. However, it is said that the only way to open the chamber is to speak Parseltongue, or snake language, as Lord Slytherin was a Parseltongue himself."

The first Quidditch game of the year was once again Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Slytherin had become a far more challenging opponent this year with Lucius Malfoy's gift of seven Nimbus Two Thousand and One's to the team. Malfoy had been granted position of Seeker because of this. With the acquisition of faster brooms, the Slytherin's took the lead early in the game, shooting to a 60-0 lead. However, better brooms turned out to work only so much. After a little while longer Angelina, Katie, and Alicia had figured out a way to out maneuver them and rallied fifty straight points, the score now being 60-50.

They might have been able to score more if George Weasley hadn't needed to spend the entire game shielding Harry from a Bludger which seemed to have been manipulated to only fly after Harry. Fred zipped around after the other Bludger causing as much havoc as possible for the Slytherin team. Unfortunately, George had to deflect the normal Bludger for a brief moment and the rogue one slammed into Harry's arm. Harry felt the bones shatter as soon as it hit his arm.

The Snitch appeared dancing around Malfoy's head as he taunted Harry a moment later and, not caring if Gryffindor lost the game, Harry lunged for it, grabbing it with his uninjured hand and pelting to the ground where he hoped to be relatively safe from the Bludger. He was, but only because Hagrid came sprinting out with an oversized Beater's club and pounded the rogue Bludger into the ground with enough force that it just lay there quietly and Madam Hooch calmly picked it up and placed it in a box.

Madam Pomfrey took three seconds to heal Harry's arm but warned him that he shouldn't do any sort of strenuous exercise with it for at least two weeks. That being said, Quidditch practices became a little boring for Harry as he couldn't do anything accept be present for them and work on his homework.

Part way through the year, Robert enlisted the help of Professor Snape to give a demonstration to the second years on the proper way to duel. The two professors were in the middle of a spectacular fight when a Malfoy decided to pick a fight with Harry over who was the better duelist. Robert and Snape took notice a moment before Malfoy cried "_Serpensortia_" and a medium sized snake shot out of his wand and headed for Hermione. Harry yelled at the snake to stop and surprisingly it backed off. Robert and Snape quickly ended the lesson, Snape taking Malfoy away for a brief lecture, "You've already landed yourself with detention for the remainder of the year, try not to get yourself into more trouble!" and Robert held Harry back after class.

"There's something you need to know," Robert told him, "When you told the snake to back away from Hermione you were speaking in Parseltongue." "I was what?" Harry asked. "Speaking in Parseltongue," Robert said again, "you can communicate with snakes and can understand other people talking in Parseltongue. Now you told me that you're hearing a _hissing_ _voice_ inside the walls and sometimes people are attacked shortly after you hear it?"

"Yeah."

"You need to be very careful," Robert said, "the fact that you can talk with snakes is likely to be all over the school by breakfast tomorrow. And the fact that you found Mr. Finch-Fletchey and Nearly Headless Nick and then found Colin Creevey, a member of your own house who likes to stalk you, a few days later is not going to help. Try and keep a low profile."

---------------------------------

Harry recounted what Robert had told him to Ron and Hermione later on and both were a bit disturbed by what Robert had hinted at. Ron also told the other two about how Ginny had been acting rather strange recently and had been apparently hiding in the dormitory for hours at a time and nobody could coax her out.

The trio decided to check things out, and with a little help from Robert, acquired the book _Moste Pontente Potions_, Robert actually gave them his copy to use along with potion ingredients, and began brewing a potion known as the Polyjuice Potion so they could spy on Malfoy, partially so they could get a bit of revenge for the dueling incident and to see if he knew anything, and Hermione was going to try and spy on Ginny posing as another an older Gryffindor to find out what she was doing and perhaps have a confident for Ginny. Angelina Johnson was picked and Hermione got a hair off of her robes while passing by her. Harry and Ron put a sleeping potion into some cupcakes and levitated them in front of Crabbe and Goyle, who at them and passed out.

The transformation process the potion had was rather nauseating. Ron and Hermione both rushed into stalls in the unused bathroom they used to brew the potion saying that they were going to be sick, and Harry doubled over in front of a mirror and actually watched the transformation happen. Ron came out of his stall in the form of Crabbe a moment later. Hermione told them to go on she'll meet them back here in an hour.

Ron and Harry didn't learn much from their conversation with Malfoy, other than the last time the Chamber was opened fifty years ago one student had been killed and that Robert was making him do a whole bunch of really weird tasks like scrubbing the bathrooms clean with a toothbrush and a variety of other things. Harry had to restrain Ron when Malfoy smirked saying he hoped the person who died this time was Hermione.

The boys managed to make an exit as the potion was wearing off and returned to the bathroom to find that Hermione hadn't left. The ghost who haunted the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle, who under normal conditions was constantly crying and wailing about the atrocities of her life and subsequent death, was laughing madly as she flew around the room. As it turned out, the hair retrieved from Angelina's robe had been her cats and Hermione had to stay in the Hospital Wing for a week having the effects of the potion removed. Ginny was a bit amused as Harry told her about Hermione's "mishap" with a transfiguration spell.

------------------------------------

Unfortunately as the year progressed they saw less and less of Ginny. Hermione was spending almost every free hour she could in the library, for reasons unbeknownst to Harry and Ron. Tension in the castle was rather high, the last attack had been on Halloween and it was now February. Robert had been right in giving Harry the advice to stay low. Students, especially Muggle-borns, were steering clear of him left and right. The only students who didn't were those in Gryffindor where the Weasley boys were making it quite clear that if anyone dared suspect Harry of anything Fred and George would pull an especially nasty prank on them and Percy would be all to happy to overlook it.

"What could be going on with Ginny?" Harry wondered as he and Ron played Risk. Ron had already beaten Harry rather spectacularly in Wizards Chess earlier and they had moved to Risk where Harry had a bit more of a chance at lasting longer against Ron. "Don't know," Ron said as he won Greenland from Harry, "She just sorta squeaks and runs whenever she sees us nowadays."

Ron and Harry found an odd looking diary a week later as they were walking to the library to meet Hermione. They past by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to find it flooded, the book lying in one of the sinks. Ron went off to find someone to clean it up and Harry continued to the library with the book.

The diary, as it turned out, had belonged to Tom Riddle, whom Harry was sure he had heard the name of before, and had memories magically trapped inside. The diary would absorb the ink as you wrote in it and write back to you answering your question. Tom Riddle had been a prefect in his sixth year at Hogwarts when he owned the diary. To top things off, he knew who had opened the Chamber of Secrets last time. The diary sucked Harry in, showing Tom Riddle apprehend Rubeus Hagrid and the escape of what was supposedly the monster of the Chamber.

Harry was unsure of what to make of the diary but that turned out to be the least of their worries. The day after finding it it went missing and Harry's dormitory was completely trashed. The following day Hermione was found petrified alongside a Ravenclaw prefect. Ron and Harry went to visit Hagrid, only to find out that he had been apprehended as a possible suspect, seeing as he was expelled in his third year for opening the chamber, and a note addressed to Ron and Harry asking them to feed Fang and if they wanted any sort of answers just follow the spiders. Ron didn't like that bit of the note; he hated spiders with a burning passion.

------------------------------------

Robert hung from a branch thirty feet in the air, completely concealed by wards. The giant spiders wouldn't come near him, the spells he cast wouldn't let them come within three feet of him, as close as he was going to allow them to get. Harry and Ron, along with Fang, were talking with Aragog, the giant spider whom Hagrid had cared for fifty years ago.

Aragog recounted the events of the last time the Chamber was opened. It had been Aragog that was the suspected creature, but Aragog was innocent, having been born in a distant land and never seeing anything more than the cupboard that Hagrid kept him in. Hagrid later released Aragog after the student had been killed.

The next part of the old spiders' tale was rather intriguing. The spiders would not speak the name of the creature, though it knew what it was, apparently it was too frightening a concept. Ron and Harry decided that it was time to leave at that point. But Aragog told them that he wouldn't allow his sons and daughters to kill Hagrid, but friends of Hagrid were still fair game.

Robert dropped from his perch, lifting the concealing spells as he did so. "Tell me, old geezer," he said, walking up to Aragog, "Do you hold Hagrid in great respect?"

"Of course," the spider told him, "I do not…"

"I'm well aware that you don't allow your children to kill and eat Hagrid," Robert said, sending a blast over his shoulder, knocking spiders away from Ron and Harry, "But these are friends of Hagrid's. When he comes back, he'll wonder where they went. I can only imagine that conversation: "Aragog where are Ron and Harry? They came to me asking questions, Hagrid. I told them what they wanted to know and then let my children eat them." Tell me what do you think Hagrid would do when he found out about this?"

"He would over look it," Aragog said in a tired voice.

"I'll tell him that when he gets back," Robert told the spider. He turned around, sent several blasts into the spiders knocking them away and strode from the clearing, Ron, Harry, and Fang hurrying after him. As the left, Robert turned to look behind them.

A wave of spiders were following them. Robert sighed and raised his wand. "_Avada Kadavra,"_ he hissed, and a flash of blinding green light shot from his wand, slamming into the spiders. That got their attention. Not the fact that he had just fired an incredibly powerful Killing Curse at them, but the fact that he used Parseltongue to fire it.

"Bloody hell," Ron asked, "You're a Parseltongue too?"

"It's transferable," Robert told him, "an especially poisonous magical snake can transfer the ability if it bites you. You want to have an antidote close by when that happens."

"What was that curse you fired at them?" Harry asked.

"You'll find out in a later year," Robert told them, "Trust me, I had to demonstrate the curse in class for my fourth year students."

-----------------------------

Harry was sitting next to Hermione in the Hospital Wing. Ron was off in the bathroom so it was just Harry and Hermione. "Why did this happen to you?" he asked, "Ron and I aren't as good with the figuring things out as you are. You could have at least left us a clue."

There was a pop next to Harry and he looked down. Dobby the house elf stood next to him looking as dirty as ever. "Harry Potter came back to school," he said mournfully, "Harry Potter should not have come, he is in danger here, grave danger. Dobby tried to stop Harry Potter from boarding the train by shutting the barrier. But great and powerful wizards broke the magic and Harry Potter boarded the train. Dobby tried to send Harry Potter home with his Bludger…"

"You rigged that Bludger to kill me?" Harry almost yelled.

"Not kill, sir," Dobby sobbed, "Never kill. But it would be better to be sent away, grievously injured than to stay here when the Chamber has been opened. Dobby's Master has sent Dumbledore away from the school. It is no longer safe here."

Suddenly Dobby stood bolt upright. "Dobby must go," he said before leaving with a small pop, leaving Harry royally confused. Dumbledore was gone? When did this happen? Ron came running through the door and up to Harry.

"Bad news," he panted, "Lucius Malfoy just gave Professor Dumbledore and issue by the school governors to remove him from the post of Headmaster."

Harry gapped at Ron. Dumbledore was gone? For real? The school wouldn't last a week with Dumbledore gone. "We need to talk to Robert," he declared, getting out of his chair.

"Half a moment," Ron said, "What's Hermione got in her hand?"

"Probably something from the library," Harry said, "Let's take it with us." After a few moments of grunting and pulling, the boys managed to extract the piece of parchment from Hermione's stiff hand and headed down to Robert's office.

"Hello boys," Robert said as they rushed in, "What can I do for you?"

"Dumbledore's gone, Rob," Harry started.

"Yes, I know. Lucius Malfoy managed to convince the other governors of the school to boot him out. Stupid git, I'd bet money that he had a hand in what's going on with the Chamber," Robert grumbled.

"I think I can prove he did," Harry said, "Dobby, that house elf that was stealing my letters last summer, he was just in the Hospital Wing with me. He told me that he sabotaged the entrance to platform nine and three quarters and set the rogue Bludger in the match against Slytherin. He also told me that his master just removed Dumbledore."

"Brilliant," Robert said, "Unfortunately that won't be enough to convict Malfoy of anything and I suspect any evidence we find after this will be equally as wishy-washy so Mr. Malfoy is getting off Scot Free. What's that you've got there?"

Harry glanced to Ron who was holding the piece of paper they found in Hermione's hand. "Hermione had this with her when she was petrified," Ron explained, "We just found it."

"Read it," Robert told him.

"_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam the land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."_

"Harry this is what's in the Chamber," Ron exclaimed, "Spiders flee before it: Aragog refused to speak of the creature that abides in the Chamber. Crowing of a rooster is fatal to it: there was a dead rooster where the writing on the wall was. Instant death to all who stare it in the eye: everyone has been petrified, but everyone that's seen the Basilisk hasn't seen it directly in the eye. There was water on the floor when Mrs. Norris was found. Justin say it through Nearly Headless Nick, and Nick's a ghost so can't die twice. Colin was trying to take a picture, and the camera was completely fried. Hermione and the Ravenclaw prefect, what was her name, Penelope Clearwater had mirrors with them, they were probably checking around corners for it and saw it's reflection."

"But this thing is huge: "_This snake, which may reach gigantic size"_," Harry recited, "It's too big to get around unnoticed."

Ron pointed to a word handwritten on the parchment. "Pipes," he said, "It's why you've been hearing voices in the walls."

"This is all good," Robert said, resting his chin on his folded hands as he leaned on his desk, "but this doesn't explain how the Chamber has been opened."

"I found this weird diary that showed me an account of the last time the Chamber was opened," Harry said, "Tom Riddle, the owner of the diary, accused Hagrid of opening it and Hagrid got framed for it."

"Who owned the diary?" Robert said sharply. "Tom Riddle," Harry replied.

Robert swore and brushed his hand through his hair. "Where's this diary?" he asked, "Do you still have it?"

"No," Harry told him, feeling a bit confused, "The day after I found it my dormitory was trashed and the diary missing."

"At least we can narrow it down to a Gryffindor," Robert muttered rising to his feet and starting to pace, "Has anyone in Gryffindor Tower been acting unusual?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Harry asked, "And why did Tom Riddle's name get you so flustered?" Robert took out his wand and wrote some letters in the air with it:

**TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE**

Robert waved his wand and the letters rearranged themselves:

**I AM LORD VOLDEMORT**

"Tom Riddle is Lord Voldemort," Robert told them, ignoring Ron as he flinched at Voldemort's name, "Dad figured out the thing with the letters one night when he was exceptionally drunk. Just started fiddling with the letters and all of a sudden he went dead sober and called Dumbledore to show him what he found. It explained the disappearance of Tom Riddle a few years before Voldemort showed up. He had become so distorted by the Dark Arts that he became unrecognizable."

Harry and Ron began running through the actions of everyone in Gryffindor House, only to come to a rather disturbing discovery: "Ginny hasn't been acting herself all term," Ron said a bit weakly.

"How so?" Robert prodded.

"Well she's usually chatty and friendly, accept if Harry's in the room, but she's been spending hours at a time in the dormitory and other times it appears that nobody knows where she is, trust me we've looked for her couldn't find her anywhere. Even Fred and George couldn't find her sometimes and they seem to be able to find just about anyone in the castle. Each time there's been an attack she's spent the day crying, which is once again unusual 'cause she doesn't cry that much. And, come to think of it, she's been rushing away from everybody when we try to talk to her lately."

Robert appeared to be mulling things over in his head when suddenly…"SON OF A BITCH!" Robert yelled, "You had a run in with the Malfoy's at Diagon Alley before the term started! Did Lucius do anything involving Ginny?"

"He took her books to look at them, but dad snatched them back from him," Ron said, "and he…brushed…oh, Merlin! He brushed up against Ginny as he walked past us!"

"Three Galleons he had Riddle's diary with him and put it in with the rest of her books when he bumped into her," snarled Robert, "Find Ginny! I don't care how, just find Ginny!" The boys tore out of the office.

Ron and Harry split up to search the castle. But after sprinting around asking if anyone had seen Ginny Weasley they met back up outside the staff room, panting, with no sight of Ginny anywhere.

"_All students are to return to their House dormitories immediately. All teachers to the staff room. Immediately, please."_

"Well this is awfully convenient," Harry said as he and Ron ducked into the staff room and hid in the closet. Moments later teachers bustled into the room. "It has happened," McGonagall wailed as she arrived, "The monster has actually taken a student into the Chamber."

Professor Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth, Flitwick squeaked loudly, Snape grasped the chair he was holding very tightly, and Robert just looked grim. "Are you sure?" a female teacher asked in a misty voice, "Who is it?"

"There's another message," McGonagall sobbed, "Right under the first one too: _Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever_."

"But who is it?" Madam Hooch asked looking very weak.

"Let me guess," Robert grunted, "Ginny Weasley." McGonagall stared at him like he had sprouted Mandrakes out of his ears, "Ho-how did you know?" she sputtered.

"I was talking with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley just prior to this meeting," Robert said, "They were looking over the castle for her, she's been acting oddly lately I suspect you know that since she's your student. I suspect that they're in their Common Room right now waiting to hear the bad news."

There was a moment of silence. "The school will be the closed," McGonagall said, "There isn't anything else we can do about it. The Heads of House's will notify their students…"

"No," Robert said in a cold, clear voice. Every teacher looked to him.

"What do you mean "no"?" McGonagall asked weakly.

"There is something else we can do," Robert said, "We take action. Somebody get Dumbledore back here as soon as possible, he's currently staying with my dad. I'll be in my office coming up with a rescue plan should anyone choose to help me feel free." He turned and walked calmly from the room.

Slowly the teachers began leaving; McGonagall and Snape were the last to leave. Harry and Ron extracted themselves from the closet and rushed to Roberts's office, finding it surprisingly empty. "I wasn't really expecting anyone," Robert told them, "and yes I knew that you were hiding in the closet."

"How?" Harry asked him.

"I'm your older brother," Robert grinned, "I know everything."

"Alright, we know what's in the Chamber, we know where Ginny is, we know how she got there," the boys looked at Robert funnily when he said this, "Voldemort happens to be the descendent of Salazar Slytherin so I suspect he knows how to get there because of that, don't know how he knows but that isn't important right now. What we don't know at the moment is where the bloody thing is."

"Wait," Ron said, "When we were talking with Malfoy as Crabbe and Goyle he said that the student who died in the last attack had been attacked in a bathroom."

"What if she never left?" Harry finished the thought, "Moaning Myrtle."

-----------------------------

Harry was rather surprised when Robert took him and Ron with him to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "I don't care if you're 12 or 21," he had said, "You know what's going on and you can help me." The three boys walked into the bathroom and spotted Moaning Myrtle hovering over her usual cubical, crying as usual.

"Excuse us," Harry said, feeling as he probably had the most tact of the three of them, "But we were curious as to how you died."

"It was dreadful," Myrtle moaned, "I was hiding in here in this very cubical, crying because people had been making fun of my glasses again. Then I heard someone enter and a boys voice speaking in a funny language. I opened the door to tell him to go away and use his own toilet and then…I died."

"How, might we ask?" Robert interjected.

"Not really sure," Myrtle told them, "But I do remember seeing pair of great big yellow eyes right over there." She pointed to the sinks along the wall.

"Check them," Robert told the boys, "See if there's anything unusual about any of them."

They looked over the sinks one by one. The sink directly in front of Myrtle's stall had a funny snake pattern on it and didn't work properly. Harry took a deep breath, deciding to test it out, "Open up," he told the sink.

"English, Harry," Robert said, "I'm guessing it has to be in Parseltongue." Harry concentrated for a bit and then, in a strangled sort of hiss said, "_Open up."_

The sink, and most of the wall behind it, sank into the floor beneath them, revealing a pipe large enough for a decent sized person to slide through.

"I'll go first," Robert told them, "If you don't hear from me run and get another teacher. Snape or McGonagall would be preferable." The boys nodded and Robert entered the pipe feet first, disappearing from sight. After a few tense moments they heard a faint voice calling up, "The landings a bit rough but that seems to be the worst part, come on down."

Ron went in first, followed by Harry. The pipe was like a huge dark slide with a bunch of slightly smaller pipes branching off from the main one. Finally they landed at the bottom, and as Robert said the landing on a pile of bones a bit rough, though the pipe had leveled out and the landing was more of a rather fast slide.

Lighting their wands the three of them walked into the darkness ahead of them.

"What's that?" Ron asked pointing to something lying on the ground a few meters ahead of them. Harry and Robert walked over to it examining it. It was a gigantic snake skin, roughly thirty feet long.

"Well we know what we're up against now," Robert commented. Suddenly there was a bit of a cracking noise, at which Robert looked up at the ceiling sharply and sprinted back to where Ron was standing, tackling him back several feet. Just in time. The rocks directly above Ron gave way moments after Robert ran back through and the ceiling collapsed, sealing off the tunnel except for a small opening at the top large enough for a person to look through.

Harry coughed and picked himself off the ground climbing to the top of the rock pile and peeking through. Ron and Robert were scrambling to the hole as well. "You alright, Harry?" Ron asked, being the first one to the hole.

"A bit dusty but the rocks missed me completely," Harry told him. "Keep moving we'll catch up as soon as we move these rocks," Robert told him, "I doubt it will take long."

Harry nodded and continued down the dark cavern. At the very end there was a wall of stone snakes. Harry took another deep breath and hissed, "_Open,"_ to them. The snakes came to life and slithered out of his way. Feeling rather scared, Harry stepped through the hole in the wall the snakes created.

* * *

_Well, I originally intended to finish the book with this chapter but this seemed like a good place to end for now. Next chapter may be a bit shorter than the others._

_Hopefully I can have the next chapter out relatively soon._

_Let me know how I did, please review._


	6. Chamber of Secrets part III

Harry found himself standing in a long, dark chamber. At one end was a large stone carving in the shape of a large head. With his wand held high, Harry slowly worked his way through the chamber, looking around for any sign of Ginny or the Basilisk. Lying in front of the stone head was a motionless body. As Harry drew closer he could make out some of the features of the body, including the _red hair!_ Harry ran over to Ginny and dropped to his knees. Gabriel had taught him how to check for vital signs a few years ago, Harry was quite grateful of that now. Ginny was breathing and had a pulse, but it was very faint and her breathing very shallow.

Just then he noticed a shadow being cast over them. Someone was behind them. Turning around Harry saw that it was a boy in his late teens. He must have been only a few years younger than Robert.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, feeling around for his wand.

"Harry, I'm surprised you don't recognize me," The boy said raising a wand and sending fire into torches lining the chamber.

It was Riddle. And he had Harry's wand.

'Brilliant,' Harry thought, 'I'm wandless, don't know where the Basilisk is, Ginny is barely alive, and the greatest dark wizard of the modern age is standing in front of me.' Analyzing his option quickly, Harry came to a quick realization. 'Riddle doesn't know how much I know,' he smiled inwardly, 'I need to keep him talking, find out as much as I can, wait for Robert and Ron to get here.'

"My wand," he said, "can I have that back."

"You won't be needing it," Riddle said, putting Harry's wand in his pocket.

Harry swallowed, 'Think Harry,' he thought, 'keep him talking.'

"I've been wanting to talk to you, face to face, for some time now," Riddle said walking around Harry and Ginny looking around the chamber.

'That was easy,' Harry thought smugly. "Can I ask if you know how she got like this?" Harry pointed to Ginny.

"Little Ginny there?" Riddle said, "It's quite a long story really. But it can be simplified by saying that she poured her heart and soul out for a complete, invisible, stranger."

"How," Harry asked.

"The diary," Riddle pointed to the little black book resting on Ginny, "My diary to be exact. In it was a perfectly preserved memory of my sixteen year old self. She wrote to me talking about, telling me about her life, having to come to school in secondhand robes and books, having people tease her for this, about her little crush on the great Harry Potter and how he'd never notice her or like her more than just his best friends little sister."

Harry had to focus on the malicious tone in Riddle's voice to not get sidetracked by what he was saying. He knew that Ginny came in secondhand robes, but Gabriel had sent her brand new robes for Christmas. Did she tell Riddle about this? He glanced down at Ginny briefly and barely managed to contain his shock that she was wearing the robes she had come to school with.

"I was patient with her. I wrote back to her and was kind and sympathetic. After all I had come to Hogwarts under similar conditions. My Muggle father abandoned my mother as soon as he found out she was a witch. My mother died at my birth and I was left in an orphanage. Ginny absolutely loved me. It was like having a little friend she could carry around in her pocket she told me once."

Riddle laughed at his words. It was an oddly high pitched, cruel laugh. "I've always been able to charm people, Harry," he said, "A natural gift of mine. It worked well to my advantage. You see, as Ginny wrote to me about her sad little life, I slowly became stronger, feeding off her life force as she carried me around. I became strong enough that I became able to control her without her knowing."

"What d'you mean?" Harry glared at Riddle.

Riddle chuckled at Harry's question. "It was Ginny who opened the Chamber of Secrets, young Harry. She strangled the roosters and wrote messages on the walls in their blood. It was she who set the Basilisk on four Mudbloods and the Squib caretakers cat."

Harry swallowed, his mouth feeling rather dry. Where were Ron and Robert? Why was it taking so long to get through the pile of rocks?

"Now, of course, little Ginny didn't _know_ that she was doing any of this. Her diary entries became far more interesting after that. She wrote to me about having odd black outs where she couldn't remember anything. About having rooster feathers and blood all over her robes and the fact that the roosters were dead and messages written in blood on the walls. It was most amusing to see what I could do with her."

"But then she started writing to me about her possible being the perpetrator and should she go to a Robert Munro who was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a good friend of her families and tell him about this. I decided that I needed to have complete control over Ginny. She would find herself in unusual situations sometimes after a black out. I forced her to stay in her dormitory, isolated. At Christmas when she received a brand new pair of school robes I made her destroy them. If you or one of your friends approached her I had her get away as fast as possible." The gleam in his eye was unnerving to say the least.

"But I should commend her for trying to destroy the diary, though her method was ineffective. Trying to drown a magical artifact in a bathroom sink isn't very effective. That's when I met you, the person I was dying to meet. Ginny had told me all about you. The stories about your defeat of the greatest wizard of all time, how you met her family, the fact that you're adopted family happens to be two of the greatest Aurors of the modern age. You can't even begin to imagine how happy I was."

"But like Ginny I had to gain your trust first, so I showed you what you wanted to know: the original incident of the opening of the Chamber of Secrets and my capture of Hagrid…"

"Hagrid happens to be my friend," Harry growled, "And you framed him. At first I just thought you made a mistake, Hagrid would never do something that would harm someone else unless he was mad."

"Yes, but it was my word, Tom Riddle, brilliant student, prefect, model student, against Hagrid's: a student who was in trouble once a week for some reason or another, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, raising giant arachnids in a secret cupboard… I will admit that even _I_ was surprised when my plan worked," Riddle responded, "Hagrid was so incompetent that someone _surely_ should have seen through it. He was a third year in Gryffindor and a less than average student. Whereas I was a sixth year in Slytherin, had top grades in all my classes. It had taken me five years to learn about my heritage, my ancestor being Salazar Slytherin, and the work he had left for his heir once he returned to Hogwarts. Ridding the school of Mugglase filth, leaving only the purest wizard blood behind to be trained!"

"As it turned out only the Transfiguration teacher, Professor Dumbledore, saw through the framing of Hagrid and convinced the Headmaster to allow him to remain at Hogwarts as gamekeeper. He also kept an annoyingly close watch on me. I knew that I had to bide my time and so I created this diary, with a memory of myself place within its bindings."

"But we have strayed from the topic, Harry," Riddle said with a disturbingly charming smile, "I was hoping to find out more about you from you personally. I was quite angry when the next person to write in the diary was Ginny. She had seen you with the diary and was terrified that you would find out not only her secret feeling toward you but what I had been doing to her. She waited until your dormitory was empty and stole the book back. But I knew enough to know my next move. She had told me about your determination and the fact that your brother was practically an armored encyclopedia: knew just about everything there was to know, and quite possibly the second best Auror in the world, even if he was barely older than twenty years old. You would be especially motivated if your best friend was attacked. To add to things you were a Parseltongue…"

"I wasn't planning on having her come down for a little while longer, not until I could regain a true human form," Riddle now glared at Harry, "But you and her older brother were tearing around the school looking for her. Naturally she told me and I took over. I made her write her own farewell on the wall and come down here. I had enough strength that I could at least leave the confines of the book. I wasn't really expecting you for another few days but this is just as well. So now you know how Ginny came to be like this, I think it's time for me to be asking questions."

"Like what?" Harry asked in an icy voice.

"Like how you, a small infant boy with no extraordinary magical ability, managed to defeat the most powerful wizard in the world, coming away with no more than a scar while Lord Voldemort was killed?" Riddle used Harry's wand to move the hair away from his forehead exposing his scar.

"You want to know how I survived?" Harry asked, "I'll tell you: my mother sacrificed herself protecting me. It caused the curse to rebound off me leaving me scarred but otherwise completely unharmed and hit you killing you."

"How did you…" Riddle looked at Harry suspiciously.

"How do I know you're Voldemort?" Harry smirked, "There are benefits to being brothers with an armored encyclopedia. And if Ginny thinks that my brother is impressive, my dad is even more so. He was the one to figure out the deal with your name. You want to know how he figured it out? He was piss drunk and was fiddling around with your name for the hell of it and suddenly it clicked. You say you're the greatest wizard of all time? I think Dumbledore and my adopted father are better than you ever could be. Everyone says that, in your future, the only person you were ever truly afraid of was Albus Dumbledore. And you've failed Slytherin's task, by the way, nobody's dead and the Mandrake Draught will be finished in a few days to right the people who've been petrified."

"That no longer concerns me," Riddle said, "my target for the past few weeks; month's actually, has been you. You killed my older, more powerful self, so I won't try to kill you myself. Instead I'll have a slower but equally as effective method destroy you." He turned and faced the great stone head several meters away from them.

"_Speak to me, Slytherin. Greatest of the Hogwarts Four."_

He was using Parseltongue, Harry realized, recognizing the hissy sound to the words. A grinding noise sounded and Harry watched in horror as the mouth of the stone head opened and something rather large slithered out.

It was a snake. At least thirty feet long, two feet in diameter, with a head the size of Harry's torso. It was the Basilisk.

"_Kill him."_ The order from Riddle had a cold, satisfactory sound to it. The Basilisk turned toward Harry and hissed. "_—kill, yesssss, kill—"_ Harry understood the snake, but that wasn't helping much at the moment. He was too scared to even move his feet as the Basilisk rocketed toward him.

Suddenly an odd song-like cry filled the air and a fiery blur shot down from the ceiling and attacked the Basilisks head. The Basilisk whipped around, snapping at its attacker. Then the blur floated away, singing as it did so. Oddly, the song was filling Harry with courage, enough to move anyway. He glanced at the Basilisk and noticed that its eyes were gushing blood and that it was thrashing around violently.

"_Stop! Calm yourself!"_ Harry heard Riddle yell at the snake, _"Don't let the loss of your eyes bother you! YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM! KILL HIM!"_

"Harry!" came a yell from the other end of the chamber. Harry turned and saw Ron and Robert running toward him. "I'll distract the Basilisk," he yelled at them, "Get Ginny out of here!" He turned and ran down a tunnel, the Basilisk following close behind, moving slower trying to smell him out.

----------------------------------

"Ginny!" Ron shouted, spotting his sister lying on the ground next to an older boy who had been yelling in Parseltongue. He ran to her, ignoring the older boy. The boy raised his wand, pointing it at Ron, but suddenly whipped it around to deflect a blast that shot past Ron aimed for the older boy. "You're fight is with me, Tom," Ron heard Robert say as he rushed past…Tom?... and over to kneel by his fallen sister. "Ron, get Ginny to a safe place and protect her," Robert ordered him.

Ron gathered Ginny into his arms, 'Damn, when'd Ginny get so heavy?' he thought. He carried Ginny over to a little overhang and crawled under it with her, pulling out his wand and turning to watch Robert and Tom.

"And who might you be?" Tom asked Robert as they gave each other a look over, sizing each other up.

"I'm Robert Munro, current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher here at Hogwarts School," Robert said coolly.

"Ah, little Ginny wrote a great deal about you," Tom said, "A brilliant young man she described you as. Or even an armored encyclopedia."

"I'm sure one of the students you had the beast attack would find that remark quite funny," Robert said, he conjured a red jacket out of thin air and put it on.

"Pardon me for asking, but what's with the jacket?" Tom asked.

"I wouldn't want anyone to have to see me bleed if I were to be hurt in out duel," Robert said, bowing to Tom, "I see you've opted out of wearing the brown pants."

"Why would I wear such a thing?" Tom asked, returning the bow.

"Think, Riddle, think," Robert smiled, "I'm wearing the red jacket to prevent the show of blood. Wear the brown pants would prevent showing that you've…" Tom appeared to think about this for a moment before shrieking with rage and firing a curse at Robert, who deflected it.

Robert was on the defensive, blocking all of Toms spells with a flourished ease. Ron watched, captivated by the performance. Two very young, but very capable wizards were duking it out. It appeared that Tom was the better fighter, but since Ron was a strategist, being extremely good at chess and Risk, he had caught on to Robert's strategy of taunting Tom into making a mistake. The mistake that Tom was making was to endlessly attack in a fit of rage.

"You realize Dumbledore will be here soon?" Robert said calmly, taking a brief offensive move, firing a blasting curse at Tom, who knocked it to the side, creating a large hole in the wall.

"Dumbledore fled the castle," sneered Tom, "frightened away by the mere _memory_ of me!"

"I beg to differ," Robert said, "for two reasons: One, Dumbledore left because the governors requested that he step down. And Two, there are only two fears natural to men: the fear of loud noises and the fear of going to the bathroom."

"And which one might Dumbledore be afraid of?" Tom snarled, a jet of green light being fired at Robert who dived out of the way.

"Making a loud noise _while_ going to the bathroom!" Robert called, laughing a little at his joke.

Tom screamed and fired more curses in Robert direction. Robert ducked and dodged the ones he didn't deflect or send back. Ron chuckled a bit, only Robert would be able to make jokes at a time like this. But what was Harry doing?

-------------------------------------------------

Harry ran through the tunnels, panting, the Basilisk could be heard only a short distance behind him. Somehow he needed to figure out how to dispose of it without using his wand. But this was a Basilisk that he was dealing with. The most deadly snake in the world! He needed a way to kill it from a distance, preferably, or an antidote to the venom, which he had no idea what it was.

Turning down another tunnel Harry came to an abrupt stop. He was at a dead end. He quickly turned around to run back out but the Basilisk was turning down the tunnel toward him. Harry moved to try and walk around it, hoping that since it couldn't see him it wouldn't be able to follow him. Unfortunately the snake seemed perfectly able to find him without its eyes and followed him around perfectly. There was no way he was getting past it.

'Damn it!' Harry thought as the snake drew closer, 'Damn it you had to go and draw it away from people with wands didn't you?'

"_Hhumann,"_ the snake hissed, _"hhumann wwhy do you attack the ssssssschoool?"´ _

Harry blinked. The snake was concerned about someone attacking the school? And was asking him why he did it? _"Talk hhumann,"_ the Basilisk hissed, _"I cccan sssssmell that you arre a Parssssseltongue. Wwhy do you attack the sssssssssschool?"_

"_I don't attack the school,"_ Harry told the snake, _"I'm a student at Hogwarts. I'm down here to rescue the sister of one of my friends."_

"_The girl wwho oppened the ccchamber?"_ the snake asked, _"Tell mme about hhhher. I could ssssmell that ssssshe wwassssss not wwwholely hhhhersssssselfff."_

"_She was possessed by the spirit of the person who opened the chamber last time,"_ Harry said hurridly, _"Tom Riddle, the Heir of Slytherin. He said he opened the chamber to unleash you on the school to rid it of Muggle-borns, as Salazar Slytherin would have wanted."_

The snake practically shrieked with rage. _"The upsssssstart 'Heir' defilessss hisss anccccestor'sss name!"_ it hissed angrily, _"My massster,SSSSalazzzar SSSSlytherin created the ccchamber asss a lassst line of defenssse for the ssschoool withh the hhelp of Godric Griffindor, his closssessst friend and companion."_

Harry was confused. Slytherin and Gryffindor created the chamber together? He knew that they had started out as very good friends but they fought over who should be allowed into the school. Gryffindor and the other founders would accept any student, Muggle or pureblood wizard, as long as they had magical capabilities. Slytherin believed that only purebloods should be taught.

The Basilisk seemed to pick up on Harry's thoughts. _"You hhave probably been taughht that my massster only desssired pureblood wizzzardsss assss hisss ssstudentsss,"_ it hissed, _"Yessss, he hhad hissss prefferencccessss, but hhe did not deny the admisssion of ssstudentsss wwho did not come from pure magical familiesss to the ssssschool. And the argument that drove Ssssslytherin away from the sssschool was that he and Gryffindor fancccied the ssssame woman. In the end, Gryffidor won the lady'ssss affectionsss and my masssster traveled far to try and forget his lossssss. I know not what happened to hhim on hisss travelsss but he never returned. But I can feel the pressenccce of hisss bloodline and it prevailsss to thisss day."_

"_But the Heir issss not thisss 'Tom Riddle'," _the snake continued, _"Let usss find a way to ridd the world of hissss filth…"_

-----------------------------

Ron checked Ginny again for signs of life. She was fading, but not as quickly as she had been while in direct contact with the diary, which now lay several feet away from her. "C'mon Robert," Ron yelled, "Finish that bastard and come help me fix Ginny!"

"That's a bit difficult, Ron!" Robert yelled back, "I can't kill him or hurt him physically when he's in this state."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"He's a memory," Robert called back, firing a stunner at Riddle, "He's not fully human yet, and unfortunately I have the feeling that he's feeding off of Ginny to gain enough strength to become human."

"How can you tell?"

"Well he's a little—BANG—fuzzy around the edges, any damage I inflict—_Reducto—_on him isn't sustained it just knocks him back, and lastly he was defeated twenty years ago at the age of—_Impendimenta!_—about sixty and this is his sixteen year old self."

"Very good observations," Riddle sneered, "But even if you manage to defeat me and save the brat it will take far more to 'fix her' than you might think."

"How so?" Robert asked deflecting another stunner, a cold glint in his eye.

"I had a bit of fun controlling her," Riddle grinned, "She'd find herself in…compromising situations, by herself, but still it was enough to get the job done. I kept her isolated from people quite well and you never figured it out." He seemed rather pleased with himself.

"What kind of 'compromising situations' are you talking about?" Robert asked knocking Riddle off his feet with a flick of his wand.

"Let's just say her hand was in her 'happy place'," Riddle smirked.

Robert's face contorted with rage. He raised his wand and brought it down in a sweeping arc. Riddle was thrown backwards, dropping his wand, and slammed into the wall. Robert put his wand back into his sleeve, the red jacket vanishing, and strode over to where Riddle was slumped against the wall.

He grabbed Riddle by his robes, lifted him into the air, and slammed him into the stone. "You—SMACK—Do—CRUNCH—Not—THUD—Treat—SMACK—Women—POW—Like—THUMP—THAT!" Robert thundered, punching Riddle in the face between every word. He bodily throw Riddle ten feet through the air, Riddle landed heavily on his back. Robert walked over to him, kicking him in his crown jewels then stepping on his throat.

"You'd better hope that we kill you before you become fully human," he fumed at the younger boy, "Because if Ginny dies there will be three armed wizards against you, and I can kill the Basilisk quite easily enough if I have to so you will be weaponless and said three armed wizards will all be wanting to kill you in an agonizingly slow way!"

Ron was still trying to figure out what Riddle had meant by his sister's 'happy place' when… "Ron!" he heard Harry yell from off to the left. He turned to see Harry running toward him followed by the Basilisk. "Hold the diary out, Ron!" Harry yelled, "Hold it out!"

"Like this?" Ron yelled grabbing the diary and holding it an arm's length away from his body.

"Perfect!" Harry yelled.

The Basilisk suddenly shot forward, right at Ron. His body froze up as the snake rushed at him, opening its jaws and…biting down on the diary? Not just the diary though! Ron felt pain rack through his body as one of the Basilisks fangs stabbed through his arm. The Basilisk quickly opened its mouth and released Ron; the diary still attached to one its fangs, ink spurting out of it like blood.

His own scream of pain was drowned out however by a high pitched scream coming from Riddle. The boy was writhing on the ground under Roberts's foot. Suddenly he exploded in a shower of dazzling white sparks. Robert picked up Riddle's wand and handed it to Harry. "I'm guessing this is yours," he said to his younger brother. They then walked over to Ron, who was now lying on the ground.

Ron's vision was getting very blurry. Was this what dying was like? Rather painful really.

A fiery shape fluttered down from the ceiling. "A phoenix?" he heard Robert murmur, but it was very distant, almost too far away for Ron to hear. 'I'm dying,' Ron thought as he felt something wet hit his arm, 'I hope Ginny makes it. If she dies this will be all worth nothing.'

He looked over to Ginny. He could just make out her unconscious figure. Was she going to die to? Would they both travel to the place beyond life? Suddenly Ginny's features became sharper. 'No!' Ron thought, 'No, she can't die. Take her back! Take her back!'

"Take her back where, Ron?" he heard Harry ask. Ron looked over to Harry who was kneeling next to him.

"Where am I?" Ron asked, "What happened?"

"You were bit by the Basilisk," Robert said, stroking a rather fiery looking bird, "but this phoenix seemed to be hanging around and cried over your arm. A good thing it did since phoenix tears have healing capabilities. They're pretty much the only antidote to Basilisk venom. Oh, by the way, _can you understand me?"_

"Why wouldn't I?" Ron asked sitting up.

"Well I was speaking in Parseltongue there," Robert said, "It appears that the ability has been transferred to you."

------------------------

"_Harry,"_ Harry heard a hiss behind him. He turned to see the Basilisk's head a few feet away from him. _"If you could come wwith me for a moment,"_ the snake hissed and turned back to the stone head. Harry followed it. _"Enter the mouth,"_ the snake ordered him.

Harry crawled in and lit his wand. _"You ssssee a little hole, large enoughh for a hhumannsssss hhand,"_ the snake hissed, _"Put your hhand in it, if you would."_ Harry reached into the hole and felt something similar to a handle. _"Pull out wwhat you find,"_ the snake told him. Harry pulled and a long sword came out of the hole. _"Come with me,"_ the snake hissed.

Harry crawled back out of the mouth and followed the snake back over to Ron, Robert, and Ginny who was now regaining consciousness.

"_Lady Gryffindor,"_ the snake bowed its head to Ginny, _"You hhave been wronged by a desssccendent of Ssssslytherin. Asss my masssstersss sssservant, I deeply apologizze for what hasss been done unto you. Reccceive your anccesstorss sssword, ssso that it may be resstored to itssss rightful owner and the bond betwween Gryffindor and Ssssslytherin may be reforged."_ It looked pointedly at Robert who quickly translated, and Harry, realizing why he had been asked to retrieve the sword presented it to a rather confused Ginny.

The Basilisk bowed deeply to both Ron and Ginny before slithering back into the mouth of the stone head and the mouth closed.

Ginny was in hysterics as they left the chamber and walked back to the tunnel that they entered through. "I-I'm g-g-g-going to get e-e-expelled!" she wailed, clutching the sword, "I've been wanting to come here ever since Bill got Head Boy. Now I'll have to leave!"

"Ginny," Robert comforted her, "I doubt they will make you leave. You were almost killed, you've been having a traumatic experience all year, I'll be surprised if they let you leave the Hospital Wing before the term ends in two months."

"Ginny why didn't you tell us what was happening?" Ron asked, holding his sister around the shoulders.

"H-h-he w-wo-wo-wouldn't-t-t-t l-l-le-t-t m-m-me!" sobbed Ginny, "H-he d-d-d-d-di-d-d hor-horib-le…"

"I know what he did to you," Robert said, stopping the group and kneeling in front of Ginny, "It was wrong, it was terrible, it was unforgivable. He has paid for it," he held up the diary with the fang marks in it, "and _he_ won't come back ever again."

Ginny starred bleary eyed at Robert for a moment before throwing herself at him and sobbing into his shoulder. "It's alright," Robert soothed, "It's over, we're here for you. Me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione as soon as she's better."

Ginny sobbed harder at the mention of Hermione. "Ginny, it's not your fault," Harry patted her on the back, "Riddle told me himself that he has a natural talent for charming people. You didn't know that he was the memory of Voldemort, for all you knew he was a nice young man who made a talking diary when he was sixteen."

It took a few more minutes of gentle words to calm Ginny down, but eventually they made it back to the pipe. Robert, who knew that phoenix's were rather strong birds, had everyone hold on to each other in a long line, with Ginny, the smallest, at the bottom and himself, the largest and strongest, at the top holding onto the phoenix's legs. A few brief moments of being pulled up a dark pipe and the four of them found themselves back in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

---------------------------------

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Robert were all sitting in a compartment of the Hogwarts Express heading back to London as the term ended. The whole explanation for the incident in the Chamber of Secrets had gone over quite well. Dumbledore was waiting for them outside the bathroom and ushered them to Professor McGonagall's office where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were waiting. They gushed over Ginny, and Ron as soon as they found out that Ron had been bitten by the most deadly snake in the world. The phoenix had turned out to be Dumbledore's and was named Fawkes. Dumbledore had sent him down to help as soon as he returned to the school.

Ron and Harry both received Special Awards of Service to the School and two hundred points apiece to Gryffindor House. Lucius Malfoy came in shortly afterwards to talk with Dumbledore, Dobby at his side. When Mr. Malfoy left Harry played a trick on him that resulted in Dobby receiving a sock from Malfoy, which released him from his duties. Malfoy wasn't very pleased with this but since Dobby was no longer a servant to the Malfoy's he was more than capable of protecting Harry from harm.

As Robert predicted, Ginny was confined to the Hospital Wing for the remainder of the term, though she had practically the entire Gryffindor House visiting her on and off throughout the day, every day, until she was released. The Mandrake Draught was quite successful and the Basilisk victims were restored to good health. They and Ginny were exempt from exams for the year, much to the dismay of Hermione who was the only person in the entire school who ever looked forward to an exam.

Fred and George decided to celebrate the success of the Mandrake Draught by throwing a huge party that spilled out of Gryffindor Common Room and into the school at three in the morning. Thankfully Dumbledore had granted the entire school a week long break after the crisis was over and even though hardly anyone in the school slept that night nobody cared since there wasn't any classes the next day. Hagrid also made a return during this party which only gave the party more reason to continue longer.

Exams went over well for Harry and Ron. Snape, for reasons unbeknownst to them, had become a little more pleasant to be around this year and potions was not as difficult as last year. Charms and Transfiguration were a breeze, Herbology was passable, but only because they spent hours questioning Neville on the subject as the exam drew closer. They were all too happy to return the favor by helping him with his DADA questions.

Roberts's exam was tedious, to say the least, but since he always gave out enormous quantities of bonus points for creative answers the lowest grade anyone in Gryffindor received was an eighty-five. History of Magic and Astronomy went over quite well. Professor Binns had kept up his new, hyped up teaching style for the entire year and the class had become quite interesting.

But now the term was over and everyone was heading home. Robert had bought Ginny a mountain of candy for the trip back, actually he bought everyone the mountain of candy, but he was encouraging Ginny to eat the most.

"Can I ask you something?" Ginny asked Robert as she opened another Chocolate Frog.

"What?" Robert asked.

"I described you to Riddle as an armored encyclopedia," Ginny said, "But the thing is you're barely out of school. How is it that you're this good, but so young?"

"I have to say there are some advantages to being the son of the most powerful Auror in the world," Robert grinned, "It took me two weeks to pass Auror training school while it takes others several years. The fact that Dad is good friends with Dumbledore also helped. That explains the armored part of it, as for the encyclopedia, well, my job as an Auror requires me to be incredibly knowledgeable. When an Auror isn't tracking down a dark witch or wizard or even a potential one, he or she is constantly studying."

"Now there is a big difference in being a nerd and being good at what you do," he continued, "A nerd just studies because he or she can and it is what makes them happy. There isn't anything wrong with that but it's incredibly difficult to be around someone with volumes of information in their head that holds little to no purpose. A person who is good at what they do is incredibly knowledgeable, but, everything they know tends to be useful to their job in some way. Not always, but usually."

"One other thing," Ron said, "I've been meaning to ask you this but never remembered when you were around. Why is it that you always seem to be there when we're in trouble? And how is it that you knew that Harry and I were hiding in the closet?"

Robert sighed and leaned back in his seat. "When Dad first adopted Harry, he put a charm on Harry that allowed him to know where Harry was at all times," he said, "When I graduated from Magic School and passed Auror qualifications I was included in the charm. The justification for this was that Harry had defeated the most powerful dark wizard of the century and we needed to ensure his safety but couldn't be bearing down over him. The charm also alerted us if Harry was in distress. I don't know how long the charm will last, definitely not until he comes of age, but will it wear off when he's fourteen or fifteen? I don't know the answer to that question."

They rode in relative silence for a while talking about random things, telling Hermione about how the exams went, bemoaning that fact that Quidditch got cancelled part way through the year, and listening to a few of Robert's stories about Gabriel chasing down American Dark Wizards.

"I should tell you," Robert said as they were notified that they were approaching London, "I will not be at Hogwarts next year. My job as an Auror holds far greater weight in the eyes of the American Magical Government than my job to protect Harry. I have been given an assignment that will undoubtedly take most of the next year at the shortest. If I can I'll come to Hogsmeade Village where you will be allowed to go next year given your parents or guardians permission."

"What's your new assignment?" Ginny asked.

"I'm an Auror Ginny," Robert smiled at her, "I hunt dark wizards. Actually, my new assignment is to track down the _real_ Heir of Slytherin. Voldemort—oh, get over it, if you can't even hear his name without cringing how will you stand up to him?—apparently had several mistresses during his dark reign and there have been some rumors that he would have his Death Eaters kidnap young women, Muggle and witch alike, and lock them in his bed chamber. I am to find out if any offspring arose from these violent capitulations or mistresses and if there are how many."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Gabriel and Dumbledore have done extensive background research on Voldemort and believe that part of the reason he went as bad as he did was because his father abandoned his mother, who died, and he grew up unwanted in an orphanage," Robert said, "I'm actually appalled that it's taken this long for anybody to go and look for a child of Tom Riddle's. If there are any offspring I'd say most of the damage that happened to Tom has already taken place if they aren't in a home already."

"But who will teach DADA next year?" Ron asked, "You were way better than Quirrell was last year. And Percy says that you were probably the best teacher they've had teach the class while he's been there."

"I'm sure Dumbledore will find someone appropriate," Robert smiled, as the train pulled into platform nine and three quarters. Harry could see Gabriel standing there with the Weasley's.

"When will you be leaving?" he asked Robert as they picked up their things and left the train.

"As soon as an owl comes for me," Robert said, "I expect rather soon. Cheer up, big guy, you still have Dad to pester for the summer."

The two of them grinned to each other as they walked toward Gabriel and the Weasley's. Robert or no Robert, Harry decided, summer will always be an eventful time.

* * *

_Well this was fun. I wasn't expecting this to be as long as it turned out to be...oh well. I expect that the later books will be like this, since there are more conflicts in them so will take more room to rewrite the conflict._

_Well, there was a bit of an explanation for Robert at the end of this chapter, I hope it answered some of your unspoken questions about him. I have noticed that while Robert has an interesting sense of humor he is more likely to make strange comments to people or act weird than pull pranks on people. More his style than Fred and George Weasley._

_As always, let me know how I did, please review. And I know there are a lot of you reading this. The fact that I have as few reviews as I do is almost unacceptable. Please take, I don't know, twenty seconds to tell me what you think of what I've written. It really doesn't take that long._


	7. Prisoner of Azkaban part I

Disclaimer: I only own Robert and Gabriel.

Ok, it's been awhile since my last update. I've been working on my Hellsing story and that's taken a while and I also have been preparing to go back to school. I'm back at school now so writing for fanfiction will be second to school activities. I do have a few of the HP books here at school with me so if I do have some free time I will be able to work on it along with my other stories.

This book is going to be interesting because this is a bit of a turning point in the story: Harry and his friends are getting old enough that Robert doesn't need to be watching them like a hawk to keep them alive and intact. I'm hoping to have a little bit of Robert's assignment in later chapters I do have a bit of an idea for what I'm going to do for that.

Enjoy:

* * *

"Harry."

Harry looked up from his History of Magic essay. He was currently working on a piece about Medieval Witch Burnings being pointless. So far the best piece of information he could find in the books he had was something about a witch who enjoyed the tickling sensation the Flame Freezing Charm produced so much that she was caught over forty times in various disguises. However that was going to need to wait as Gabriel was calling him about something.

"What is it?" he yelled down to his adoptive father.

"We need to talk for a moment," Gabriel called up to him. Harry sighed, pushed his chair back, and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

"Ok, what do we need to talk about?" he asked the middle-aged man.

Gabriel smiled, "Harry, I have received an assignment that will require me to not be here for a few days," he said, "and with Robert already gone on his assignment, there are some people who would prefer if you weren't staying by yourself."

"Why?"

"It would seem that the criminal Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison," Gabriel said lightly as if this was something to discuss over afternoon tea. Harry glanced up at the clock. Three forty-two.

'Funny,' Harry thought, 'it _is_ time for afternoon tea.'

Gabriel continued, "Black was convicted of selling your parents to Voldemort, I should tell you, as well as the murder of Peter Pettigrew, one of your parents close friends, and is considered to be a great supporter of Voldemort, his right hand man some have said. The Ministry of Magic believes that he has escaped to extract revenge for killing his master."

"Something tells me that you don't really believe that," Harry scrutinized Gabriel.

"That's partially because I knew the man slightly," Gabriel said, "It isn't enough to turn over a conviction, but my intuition told me that he wasn't the kind of person to do that sort of thing. The fact that he never had a trial vexes me as well."

"He was sent to prison without a trial?" Harry exclaimed, "Isn't that…"

"Unethical?" Gabriel supplied, "In America we'd call it Unconstitutional, but that's because we have a document, called the Constitution of the United States of America, which dictates that all people have the God given right to a fair trial. Though that concept can be distorted…"

"Wha…"

"That's irrelevant, Harry, I was digressing from the subject. The thing is that people believe that Sirius Black is out to get you and they would rather you not be by yourself. Therefore the Minister of Magic has requested that you stay at the Leaky Caldron where you can be monitored while I am of on duty."

"Why can't I stay with Mr. Lupin?"

"Remus is a werewolf, as you remember Harry, and the Ministry isn't very trusting of werewolves and other sorts of magical creatures, mostly for illogical reasons."

Harry walked back upstairs, wondering what Gabriel had meant. However the arrival of three owls through his window soon shocked him out of his ponderings. One was Hedwig, his snowy owl given to him when he found out he was a wizard. One of the others he recognized as Errol, the ancient Weasley owl, who was looking extremely tired. The last one was a rather handsome tawny owl, which Harry recognized as one of Hogwarts' School Owls.

Each owl had a parcel and a note attached to it. Harry reached for the school owl first, untying it from its burden and allowing it to fly away. Next was Errol who was very grateful as Harry put him in Hedwig's cage and began gulping down water. Hedwig, who looked very pleased with herself nipped Harry affectionately as he untied her and flapped over to rest on top of her cage, as Errol was in it.

Harry looked over his packages, deciding to open the one from the school first. Picking up the letter (which had thick handwriting instructing Harry to read it before opening the package) and opened it. Inside was a letter from Professor McGonagall saying the usual pre-term letter things as well as an enclosed permission slip for going to Hogsmeade Village on the weekends, and a letter from Hagrid.

**Dear Harry,**

**Happy Birthday! Think you might find what's in the package useful for next term. A bit of advice: stroke the bindings. Hope your summer's been fun.**

**All the best,**

**Hagrid**

Harry opened the package to reveal a book entitled _Monster Book of Monster's_. He had a brief moment to wonder what Hagrid meant before the book began snapping at him in an attempt to bite his fingers off. Holding it shut with one hand, Harry took Hagrid's advice and ran his finger down the bindings of the book and, remarkably, it went quiet. Harry put his belt around it to keep it shut for when it woke back up.

The other parcels were from Ron and Hermione. Ron sent him a Pocket Sneakscope, a contraption that would spin and whistle if someone untrustworthy was around, as well as Happy Birthday wishes from Ginny. There was also an article about the Weasley family winning the annual Ministry Prize Drawing this year with a record thirteen hundred Galleons as the prize. The Ron also said that they were visiting Bill in Egypt where he worked as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts Bank. The twins had gotten into a bit of trouble for trying to shut Percy in one of the larger tombs. Harry laughed at that thought.

Hedwig had brought him a parcel from Hermione who was vacationing in France. She sent him a _Broomstick Servicing Kit_, complete with handle polish, Tail-Twig Clippers, an attachable compass, and a _Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare_.

Harry should have felt happy about the arrival of his Birthday Presents from his friends, but for some reason he didn't. Why is it that they remembered his Birthday when his father and brother seemed to have forgotten? He had just turned around to go confront Gabriel when he noticed Gabriel in the doorway to his bedroom.

"Incidentally, Harry," Gabriel said holding up a hand with a cloth over it, tapping the cloth with his wand and pulling it up revealing a cake that wasn't there a moment ago, "Happy Birthday!"

--------------------------------------

Harry sat outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor finishing his Medieval Witch Burning essay. Florean was a bit eccentric, giving Harry free sundae's every half an hour if he wanted them, and he knew a great deal about the witch burnings. All of his school shopping had been done days ago and he was beginning to get a little bored just being at Diagon Alley by himself. He had run into a few classmates; Seamus and Dean were in Quality Quidditch Supplies admiring the latest broom model: The Firebolt. It was the fastest broom in the world, able to accelerate up to 150 miles an hour in ten seconds. Harry was sorely tempted to try and get one, but he already had a broom and figured he didn't need to change brooms just because a better one came out.

Neville past by Harry with his rather formidable-looking grandmother, they were looking for Neville's booklist, which he had misplaced. He saw the Patil twins with Lavender Brown gushing over the Divination book that third years were supposed to get. Malfoy was spotted strutting around with his father but thankfully their paths never crossed.

Harry was reading the third volume of _In Shade and Shadow_ which the new DADA teacher had put on the list; either the new teacher knew Robert or had the same taste in books, but Harry decided that was a good thing because the book was fascinating. He happened to look up at the precise moment that Ron and Hermione came rushing up to him.

"Dad said you were staying here," Ron grinned, slapping Harry on the shoulder, "How was your summer? Egypt was great. Ginny and Mum got in a huge fight when Mum didn't want her to go into some of the more grotesque tombs, Bill eventually persuaded her to let Ginny come in. She's with Mum right now getting her books, just so you know. Have you gotten your books yet?"

"Summer's been a bit boring actually," Harry said, "Without Robert as an accomplice to annoy Gabriel all I've really been able to do is "misplace" some of his things and have them turn up several days later in random locations. The toaster showed up in the toilet, that took a hell of a long time to clean up, and his dress robes were found shoved into a very small desk drawer. As for my books, yeah I've got all of them. What do you make of the Care for Magical Creature's book?"

"The assistant and Flourish and Blott's nearly cried when we said we wanted two," Hermione said, heaving her three bags, all bulging with text books up onto the table.

"Damn, Hermione, what are all those for?" Harry asked.

"She's not planning to eat or sleep this year," Ron rolled his eyes, "While we've just added Divination and Care for Magical Creatures to our schedule she's added Arithmancy, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies which I'm not sure she needs since she's _Muggle-born_…"

"It'll be fascinating to see the wizards' point of view of the subject," Hermione defended herself, "And so what if I'm taking more classes than you."

"Well, Robert would probably be shaking his head at you right now," Harry commented, "and probably make some comment about holing yourself in the library or common room with your book will be terrible for your mental health regardless of how much you like doing it."

"But Robert also studies like mad," Hermione protested, "He himself said that he's constantly studying when he isn't actively doing his job."

"Yeah but he didn't start doing that until he was fifteen," Harry said, "Granted that was only two years after he started Magic School, they start at thirteen instead of eleven at the Masonic School of Magic, but he was still older _and_ he had year round school."

"I've still got a bit of money left," Hermione changed the subject, "I've been wanting to get a pet, Ron has Scabbers and you have Hedwig…"

"There's a magical pet shop over there," Harry pointed, having memorized the layout of Diagon Alley in the week and a half that he had been there.

"I need to have Scabbers checked out," Ron said, pulling out his pet rat, "He got hit with a funny spell in Egypt by one of the Curse Breakers and hasn't been the same since."

Harry looked at Scabbers. He normally was a healthy looking, brown garden rat, looking very lively for having lived as long as he had, Percy had handed the rat down to Ron after owning him for five years Ron had now had him for about three. Scabbers had now lost a considerable amount of weight and was looking quite bedraggled to say the least.

Harry paid for his ice cream and the trio headed for Magical Menagerie, the pet shop where Robert and Harry had purchased Hedwig a couple years ago. Hermione went looking around the shop as Harry and Ron approached the desk.

"Can I help you?" the middle-aged witch behind the counter asked.

"I need something for my rat," Ron explained.

"Bang him on the counter," the witch told him, pulling out a pair of thick, horn-rimmed glasses. Ron pulled out Scabbers again and the witch examined him. "He's been put through the wringer a few times," she said, "How old is he?"

"We've had him in the family of nearly eight years and he was full grown when we got him," Ron said.

"Impressive," the witch said, "Ordinary garden rats tend to only live three years or so he's been taken care of quite well, I'll say that, what happened to him that he got like this?"

"We took a vacation in Egypt and he got hit with a funny spell," Ron mumbled.

"Do you know what spell?"

"No."

"Pity, well nothing can be done about that. I'd recommend allowing him to rest and take it easy for a while and this rat tonic," the witch handed Ron a little red bottle.

Hermione came walking up to the counter carrying a ginger cat. "Hide the rat!" the witch said hurriedly, but it was too late. The cat spotted Scabbers and, wriggling its way out of Hermione's arms, jumped up onto the counter and began sniffing the rat. Scabbers had gone completely stiff as the cat examined him, and was starting to shake with fear. The cat opened its mouth and…began licking Scabbers?

"Crookshanks, what are you doing?" the witch asked a little disbelieving. The cat lay down on the counter and began purring, holding the rat to its belly. Ron, Harry, and Hermione peered down at the two animals. To their shock, Scabbers had fallen asleep.

---------------------------------------------------

"What's this all about?" Ginny asked as the four of them sat in the Leaky Caldron eating dinner. Crookshanks and Scabbers were once again snuggled up with each other, snoozing as the humans ate.

"Apparently my cat has taken a liking to Ron's rat," Hermione said, "Oddly enough it's kinda cute watching them." Ron acted like he was vomiting while the two girls were looking at the two pets, causing Harry to choke on his soup.

Percy had been appointed Head Boy, and the Head Girl appeared to be the Ravenclaw prefect that was attacked last year which also turned out to be his girlfriend. Naturally Fred and George had taken the first opportunity to steal the badge and alter it so that instead of reading _Head Boy_ it read _Bighead Boy_. Harry wasn't sure why this was supposed to be funny, but with the twins nothing every really needed explaining because it was usually too complicated.

Unfortunately Ron had forgotten his rat tonic down at the table and since Percy hadn't found the badge yet had been recruited to help find Percy's badge. Harry volunteered to go and get the rat tonic and as he reached to bottom of the stairs, overheard a rather interesting conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"It makes no sense not to tell him," Mr. Weasley was saying, "I've talked with the Minister about it but he insists that Harry be kept in the dark on this matter. He's thirteen years old for Merlin's sake and…"

"The truth would terrify him, Arthur!" Mr. Weasley said almost hysterically, "He's a _boy_ after all, how would _you_ feel knowing the greatest You-Know-Who supporter of all time had broken out of prison and is after him? Do you think Harry will want that hanging over him this coming year? He's _happy_ not knowing!"

"I don't want to frighten him!" Mr. Weasley snorted, "But I do want him to be aware of what he's doing this year because the risks of him ending up in the Forbidden Forest this year and running into Sirius Black are too high! Gabriel is currently following a lead on Black right now and if he hadn't been here at the Leaky Caldron under supervision I don't know what would have happened. Suppose that the lead was a farce and Black had been camping outside of Gabriel's house for the past week waiting for him to leave without Harry?"

"But that didn't happen, Harry was here the whole time, so what's the point?"

"The point is that eventually we may make a slip up and that's all Black needs: one tiny slip up! And all of a sudden we have Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, dead."

"But he'll be at Hogwarts, with Dumbledore; there isn't a safer place in the world."

"The same was said about Azkaban and Black managed to break out of that. _And_ Hogwarts happens to be where Black's headed."

"How do you know?"

"Cornelius told me about the night after Black escaped. He went to question the guards about what Black had been acting like and apparently for the past week Black had been muttering "he's at Hogwarts" over and over again. Then suddenly he just wasn't there anymore."

"What's all this about?" a new voice asked. Harry thought it sounded an awful lot like Gabriel's.

"Ah, Gabriel, how did the hunt go?" Mr. Weasley asked in a jovial voice.

"Dead end," Gabriel said, "I expected it to be but had to go investigate it anyway. How's Harry?"

"He's just _fine_," Mr. Weasley said, "And he'll probably stay that way if he doesn't find out about Black."

"Too late," Gabriel said, and Harry could almost hear the smile on his adopted father's face as he said it.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Weasley asked, rather taken aback.

"Two reasons," Gabriel said, "One: I told him why he was coming to the Leaky Caldron before I left. He knew about Blacks escape and possible motive before he arrived here. And Two: he's sitting on the stairs over there and has probably heard every word of your conversation."

Harry walked into the open, picked up Ron's rat tonic, waved to Mrs. Weasley, who looked rather pale, and Mr. Weasley, who looked rather relieved, and a smiling Gabriel and walked back up the stairs to give Ron the bottle.

-----------------------------------------------

Mr. Weasley had Harry promise him, even if he wasn't his guardian, that he would try and stay out of trouble this year before getting on the train. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were now looking for a compartment to sit in, most were full. They eventually found one toward the back end of the train that was, for the most part empty.

"Who do you suppose that is?" Ron said pointing to the sleeping form of a middle-aged looking man.

"Professor R. J. Lupin." Hermione told the other three.

"Lupin you say?" Harry asked looking at Hermione, "You're sure it's Lupin?"

Hermione pointed to the man's suitcase where it read in faded letters _Professor R. J. Lupin_. Harry could hardly believe it. Mr. Lupin was going to be this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! No wonder the class text book hadn't changed; Robert either introduced Mr. Lupin to the book or the other way around.

"Why do you ask?" Hermione said, waving her hand in front of Harry's face to get his attention, "And what were you thinking about? I called your name twice before you responded."

"Well, as it so happens, Mr. Lupin and my family are actually good friends and I suspect that either Robert gave him the _In Shade and Shadow_ series or Professor Lupin introduced Robert to them," Harry said, "It's going to be another interesting year."

The four kids discussed what their summers had been like in a little more detail than the discussion in Diagon Alley, Ron applied the rat tonic to Scabbers and returned him to his coat pocket where he was sleeping, Crookshanks calmly purred from Hermione's lap, and Harry and Ginny began discussing Quidditch. Ron joined in on the conversation after a few moments and the three began analyzing the strategies of various professional teams. Harry wasn't very surprised when Ron knew half the plays of a good portion of the various teams in Britain.

"It's a bit different," Hermione eventually said, looking up from her Arithmancy book which she had been reading, "without Robert here I mean. He always had a funny comment or story or trick to show us. Remember the Muggle card trick where he selected a card, showed it to us, placed it in the middle of the deck, had Ginny hold the deck loosely in between her fingers, slapped it, and the only card remaining in her hand was the card he showed us?"

Ginny giggled remembering the trick. "Yeah, and then he admitted that he hadn't the foggiest idea for how it worked," she said, "I wonder how he's doing…"

"Robert is doing quite well actually," a muffled voice said. Every head in the room turned and stared at Professor Lupin. He had turned over and was sitting up straight; he looked as tired as ever in his thin robes. "He came past my house a few days ago, looking for some information I'm not completely sure what he was looking for. He looked as fit as ever and acted as eccentrically as ever," Lupin said with a smile, "I swear that boy can't say anything without interlacing a joke into it."

"What'd he say this time?" Harry asked.

"For a period of time, about twenty minutes I believe, all he would say was "What are those?" and "Is it really that big?". After about three minutes I caught on to what he was doing and somehow we managed to communicate and get things done with him only using those to questions," Lupin chuckled, "He also, as he left, told me that he finally figured out what Muggles hear when they put a seashell up to their ear."

"What?" Ron asked.

"PUTMEDOWN!" Lupin yelled at the top of his lungs, causing everyone to jump and then laugh as they figured out what Lupin had said.

They talked for a while, asking things about Robert, much of which they knew, some of which they didn't. Harry decided that if he saw Robert anytime soon or heard from him he was going to need to tease his older brother about this "Danica Mathis" whom Lupin said he had a bit of an infatuation with.

The train stopped, suddenly. "What's going on?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure," Lupin said, "I'll go ask the conductor."

Just then all the lights in the train went out. There was a large amount of screaming from other compartments and Harry heard Ginny make several squeaking noises. "What the hell just happened?" Ron asked.

"Quiet," Lupin ordered. He lit his wand and went the doorway, opening it and pulling a student in. It was Neville. "What's happening out there?" Lupin asked.

"Not sure," Neville said, "It suddenly got very dark on my way back from the loo. And cold, very cold."

"Good Lord," Lupin muttered, "They haven't let one of those things on the train have they?"

"What things, Professor?" Ginny asked.

Just then the door and _something_ glided into the compartment. Harry only had a moment to register the large, ominous, cloaked figure before an intense feeling of gripping cold overtook him. Was it his own breaths that were raspy or were they the figures? As he felt himself slide out of his seat he could hear the distant sound of someone screaming.

There was a sudden flash of silver light and the cold slipped away, but the chill remained. Lights were coming back on and he slowly returned to full awareness. Looking around, Harry noticed that he wasn't the only one on the floor. Ginny was curled into a fetal position and was sobbing hysterically. Hermione was prodding her with Crookshanks.

Ron and Neville, who looked a little unsettled himself, helped Harry to his feet and sat back down in the chairs. Lupin was opening chocolate sweets that had been purchased earlier, as if nothing had happened.

"What happened?" Harry asked, "What was that?"

"That," Lupin said, "was a dementor. Probably the foulest magical creature you may ever find in the world. It feeds of human emotions, as they are the strongest. It specifically feeds off of happy thoughts, which is why it gets cold. You all felt like you might never be cheerful again, did you not?"

Everyone nodded, except Ginny who was still being coaxed from the floor. She wasn't in a fetal position anymore but still sobbed hysterically, wringing her hands, clamping her legs together tightly.

Lupin motioned for Ron to come over. "Has something exceptionally bad happened to her in the past?" he asked quietly.

"She was possessed by a memory of Tom Riddle for most of last year and apparently during some of her black outs he did some pretty nasty things to her. Said that he made her wake up with her hand in her "happy place". Any idea what that's supposed to mean?" Ron told him.

Lupin turned several shades of red and gripped the armrest tightly for a moment.

"This pile is hers," he said pushing all the chocolate he had unwrapped toward Ginny, "make sure she eats _all_ of it." He got up and exited the compartment.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked Ron, who recounted what he had said to Lupin quietly.

"Oh, God!" Hermione blushed. She put her mouth to Ron's ear and whispered something to him, causing him to blush as well.

'Guess Ron just learned what "her happy place" means,' Harry thought, who already knew considering Robert had told him shortly after the incident in the Chamber last year. Suddenly he remembered something from the DADA book.

"We need to get her to eat the chocolate," he said, "Dementors make us remember our most painfully awful memories. She's reliving last year in vivid detail right now. Chocolate happens to be the remedy for dementor affects…

---------------------------------------------

Dumbledore sat in his office after the start of term feast. Remus Lupin and Severus Snape sat before him. "I'm sure you are well aware of what the circumstances of this year hold," he said to the two of them.

They nodded.

"I'm sure you are also still harboring a few ill feelings toward each other from your school days."

Again, the two men nodded.

"And I'm also sure that both of you realize that it is _in the past_ and we cannot let the past rule the present. Now everyone in this room knows that the situation behind Sirius Black's imprisonment is _highly_ convenient and the most likely scenario is that the Ministry just wanted a scapegoat to be sent to prison and Black fit the criteria."

Remus nodded vigorously while Severus begrudgingly nodded in agreement.

"Neither Robert nor Gabriel is able to be around Hogwarts this year," Dumbledore continued, "Therefore it is up to you two that Harry stays safe and protected when need be. This is a difficult task, for even though Harry knows that he is being watched by us he must not feel like we are looking over his shoulder. He must be allowed to grow and, as Gabriel informed me about Molly Weasley's approach, we must not _hide_ things from him for his well being. We are hiding enough as it is and even that shall be told to him shortly, he is very close to being ready to hear that information."

The three men looked at each other before nodding and Severus and Remus rose to return to their offices to rest for the night.

Dumbledore looked out the window into the night.

"This, Fawkes, is going to be an interesting year. I pray that all goes well for our Harry Potter and his friends."

* * *

_So how'd I do?_

_Let me know: please review. And I mean it. Please._


	8. Prisoner of Azkaban part II

Disclaimer: I don't own...wait...you know that already...never mind.

Well, this chapters done. I'm hoping to find more funny things to do with the twins later on. If anyone has suggestions for pranks or silly things for them to do please send them to me either through a review or a PM, if it's good, which it probably will be, I'll see if I can work it in.

Here's the chapter than: Enjoy.

* * *

"Oy! Potter! Weasley! Is it really true that you _fainted_ when the _big scary_ dementor came into the train!?" Malfoy called from the Slytherin table at breakfast the first day of classes. The entire Slytherin House began to snicker and the other houses looked at them in contempt, especially the Gryffindor's.

"Ignore him," Hermione said, pulling Harry on toward their spot at the table. Ron, showing an incredible amount of maturity pulled his sister after them. Ginny was still a little shaken up, for good reason, though the chocolate had helped immensely.

"Malfoy…" grumbled Harry, sitting down and fetching himself some toast, "Damn him. I wish…"

"Yes, but then Professor Snape would give you detention for a month and even though Professor Lupin might be able to soften whatever Professor Snape cooks up it'll still be pretty nasty," Hermione glared at him, "Besides we have more important things to worry about. Like when our schedules are going to arrive."

"You have impeccable timing Mione," Fred said walking up to the group, "Percy gave these to George and me to help distribute them."

"Gin, what's up with you?" George asked, right behind Fred.

"Don't ask, it's noth…" Hermione began, taking her schedule from Fred.

"It's Malfoy," Ginny seethed, "going on about the incident on the train last night."

"Don't fret about it," Fred told her, handing Ron and Harry their schedules.

"We anticipated him doing this, you see," George said, flipping through the stack of parchments, searching for Ginny's schedule.

"And have already taken steps to get even," Fred continued, "He should be entering Stage One right about…"

"Now," George said.

They all looked over to the Slytherin table to see Malfoy grabbing his goblet and gulping down whatever was in it, likely pumpkin juice.

"Sorry Malfoy," George said smugly.

"Pumpkin juice won't help you here," Fred grinned.

They produced a small bottle with a skull and cross bones as the cap.

"Lee Jordan got this in Mexico last summer on a family vacation," Fred chuckled, "Had to sign a waiver saying that he wouldn't give it to minors. It's probably the hottest Hot Sauce you can find."

"Well, _he_ isn't giving it to minors," George grinned, finding Ginny's schedule and giving it to her, "Anyway, gotta run. Stay tuned for Stage Two though."

"I hope he knows someone that can do a good cleaning charm," Fred laughed as the twins moved away.

"Hermione, aren't you taking a little more on than is physically possible?" Ron said looking at her schedule, "You're lined up to be taking three classes _at the same time_."

"We know you're smart, Hermione," Harry said pulling the schedule toward him and looking at it, "but even Robert would say that this is crazy and, well, you know what Robert can be like at times."

"Oh, don't worry," Hermione said, snatching her schedule back, "Professor McGonagall's sorted it all out."

"Mione…" Ron began.

"You guys probably should go," Ginny said, "You've got Divination in about fifteen minutes and it takes a while to get there from here."

"Damn! You're right," Harry groaned, snatching a biscuit from the table and hefting his bookbag to his shoulder, Ron and Hermione, who had some difficulty lifting her bag and had to be helped by Ron (I can carry it myself, Ron!), followed him shortly afterward.

Just before leaving the Great Hall, Malfoy came sprinting passed them turning to head for a lavatory. It was a little funny to watch him as he seemed to be trying to hold something in while he ran, which resulted in him half waddling as her hurried down the corridor.

"I think I know what Stage Two involved," Hermione panted, trying her best to keep up with Harry and Ron.

"Yeah, Laxatives or the magical equivalent of them," Harry snickered.

Ron looked at them slightly bewildered so Harry informed him what a Laxative was as they hurried toward their class.

"And since he ate hot sauce he's going to be, as Robert would put it, "shitting fire" for a good while, and that's going to feel lovely," Harry laughed, joined by Ron and both received a glare from Hermione.

"Is it necessary to use that kind of language?" she gasped as they reached the stairs leading up to the classroom.

"Absolutely," Ron chuckled. Hermione just rolled her eyes.

----------

"Welcome," Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher, said as she arose from the shadows the room cast about. All the new students jumped slightly at her abrupt, though soft, entrance.

"Please, my children, sit," she said, waving her hands at the armchairs scattered about the room, "you will find that in this class comfort is essential as the Inner Eye cannot be focused while you are focused on unpleasantries of the physical world."

She waited as the students found seats and eventually turned their attention back to her.

"As you know from your schedule my name is Professor Trelawney and this is Divination, perhaps the most difficult of all the magical arts. This is because the Gift of the Inner Eye is granted to few," she paused as a bout of nervous tension seemed to permeate the air, "but do not be troubled. Even a person with no Gift whatsoever can make simple predictions if he or she knows a few basic aspects of the art. Books, you will find, will only take you so far in this class."

Ron and Harry grinned at each other as Hermione looked stricken.

"As I have said, the Gift is granted to a select few," Professor Trelawney pressed on, sweeping about the classroom, her shawl sometimes fanning musty perfume in the faces of students. Harry wondered how she could wear such a thing when it was so hot and muggy in the room. "And the ability of True Seeing is granted to an even smaller group," Professor Trelawney continued, "so few in fact that a True Seer is incredibly rare. Those magic schools willing to have such a class as Divination usually make do with very moderate Seers. I myself can only make very minor predictions and those may, or may not, happen. They are but a single outcome that could occur and there are many choices that influence the future. This is why the art of Divination is considered the most difficult."

The rest of the class period was dedicated to reading tealeaves. Professor Trelawney swept around the room listening to what the students thought they saw, giving input on what _she_ thought was in the cup, sometime it was different from what the students saw other times it was not.

"What do you see?" she asked Hermione who was looking into Lavender Brown's cup.

"An odd shaped blob…," Hermione began, "looks like…an egg?"

"An egg?" Professor Trelawney asked, pulling the cup in her direction, peering into it, "Yes, that is what that appears to be. Dear, I'd recommend asking Madam Pomfrey to teach you some contraceptive spells it appears that you are going to be exceptionally fertile." She spoke to Lavender on this, who turned rather red then pale.

"And what is in your cup?" Professor Trelawney asked Ron, who had Harry's.

"An odd bunch of shapes," Ron said, scratching his head, "There's an animal of sorts and a shape that's either an acorn or a bowler hat."

"Really?" came the response as she reached for the cup.

She sighed, "A depressing cup, dears, a falcon, you have a mortal enemy," she looked up at Harry and back down at the cup. "Tell us something we don't already know," she instructed the cup, getting a giggle from the students, "The next shape is rather vague but looks like a club, like one you would see on a set of muggle playing cards, so since it is indistinct you shall witness an attack rather than be the victim."

The students were gathering around her with great interest, Harry feeling rather self-conscious that it was his cup that all this was happening in.

"A skull…danger is in your path…Potter I'd get a different cup next time this one doesn't seem to like you very much," Professor Trelawney said, lowering her speckled glasses to peer into the cup with a different perspective. "And you also have the Grim in your cup."

Parvati Patil gave a little scream, "D-de-death is in Harry's cup?" she whimpered.

"Calm yourself, dearie," Professor Trelawney said, taking a sip from what was left in the bottom of the cup, "part of the art of reading tealeaves is to know how many things can show themselves in a cup before the reading becomes inaccurate. Now for those of you who don't know, the Grim is a giant, spectral hound that haunts churchyards and is the gravest death omen out there. But before you get yourselves too riled up I should tell you that I see the Grim in at least one cup every year and have yet to have a student die. Typically they just get turned into the running joke of the class where I continually predict the student's death for the rest of the year and next year it may be someone else to receive the "Grim" in their tealeaves."

"Also," she continued without skipping a beat, "Potter's tea has a bitter taste to it so you can already say that these predictions hold little to no strength. The likelihood of one of them taking place is much lower than normal to put it differently."

"Now then, enough of that," Professor Trelawney abruptly rose, causing the students to jump, "Please continue your reading in _Unfogging the Future_, and we will meet again sometime in the future. As a parting fortune telling: one of our company will not be with us at the end of the term, though the student will be in good health. They will have simply suffered what would be called "a slight nervous breakdown" and need to re-plan their life's journey."

The class of third year Gryffindor's got up and moved woodenly down the stairs and eventually shuffled into Transfiguration with McGonagall.

"Divination?" she asked with a quirk of her eye, "Who got the "Grim" this time?"

----------

"Alrigh' then," Hagrid boomed so that the students would stop chatting amongst themselves and turn their attention to him, "As Professor Dumbledore said, Professor Kettleburn 'as decided to r'tire while 'e still 'as all of 'is limbs intact. Since I've got the most 'xperience with magical kritters in this area 'o Britain, I'm the new Care fer Magical Creatures teacher. Now then, firs' things firs', who knows 'ow to open ther book properly?"

A scant handful of students raised their hands, including Harry.

"Figured," Hagrid muttered, "Flourish an' Blotts appear'd to 'ave misplaced my note with the instructions on 'ow to open the book safely." He took one of the _Monster Book of Monsters_ from a student and held it up.

"Take a firm hold," he called out, gripping the book in one hand, "and remove whadever yeh used to hold it shut." He removed the belt. "Then yeh stroke the bindings o' the book," he shouted, running his finger down the its spine, causing the book to go still, "It'll stay 'sleep fer 'bout two maybe three hours so yeh have plenty of time to read from it befer 'aving to put it ter sleep again."

"_Look at Malfoy,"_ Ron hissed to Harry, literally.

Harry looked over to where the Slytherin third years stood. Malfoy stood there looking absolutely flabbergasted. He probably hadn't expected Hagrid to be as good a teacher as he was turning out to be and didn't have any scathing remarks that he could shout out yet. Either that or his breakfast was still sitting _quite well_ with him. Either way, it was beyond great to have him speechless for once.

"_Arrogant little prick wasn't expecting that I guess,"_ Harry hissed back to Ron, grinning.

"Now then," Hagrid continued, "who can tell me wha's behind me?"

With their books now mercifully silent, the students, mainly the Gryffindor's, began frantically flipping through the books trying to find the creatures that Hagrid had in the fenced in area behind him.

"Hippogriffs," Dean Thomas eventually shouted out, the first one to find them.

"Good!" Hagrid said happily, "Five points De—Mr. Thomas," he shook himself momentarily, probably mentally reprimanding himself for the unprofessional slip.

"Come a bit closer if yeh would," Hagrid encouraged, a few brave students, Harry, Ron, and Hermione included, shuffled a little closer.

"Now as yeh'll see in the book, Hippogriffs are vain creatures," Hagrid warned, "wouldn' recommend insultin' one 'cause it might jus' might be the last thing yeh do."

At this point Hagrid took a moment to pause and look at a group of Slytherin's, Malfoy included, who were muttering amongst themselves, obviously not listening and oblivious to the stares of the rest of the class.

"Fer those 'o yeh who 're lis'nen," Hagrid said sagely, "Yeh'll notice tha' Madam Pomfrey is over there wait'n fer those who 'ren't pay'n attention." He nodded in the direction of a tree where Madam Pomfrey sat, seemingly patiently waiting for an unfortunate student who wasn't paying attention.

"_Bet you a Sickle Malfoy's going to pay her a visit,"_ Ron hissed to Harry, who reached into his pocket and gave Ron a Sickle.

"A brave volunteer?" Hagrid asked hopefully. Harry raised his hand when nobody else did.

"Right then, Potter," Hagrid said, opening the fence and leading Harry through it, "We're going ter have yeh attempt ter approach Buckbeak, he's the closest one. Firs' thing yeh do is bow, be respectful an' polite. While doin' this remember not ter blink or they won' trust yeh."

Harry swallowed as Buckbeak turned toward him. Tentatively, he bowed, staring at the hippogriff trying not to blink with all his might. It was more difficult than it looked considering he was staring into piercing orange eyes. Just as he thought he was going to blink, and his back was beginning to cramp, Buckbeak lowered his head in a bow.

"Excellent!" cheered Hagrid, "Pat his beak, show 'im affection."

With Harry's success with Buckbeak other students began to feel more confident and began climbing over the fence, slowly approaching hippogriffs and bowing to them. Harry left Buckbeak and walked over to try and help Neville with his (Neville you need to be a little more confident, they're not that bad really) and, much to his dismay, Malfoy walked over to Buckbeak.

"Oh come off it," Malfoy sneered as the hippogriff snapped at him as he approached without bowing, "You're just an animal, let me touch you, you great ugly brute."

There were several screams as Hagrid appeared very quickly in front of Buckbeak, trying to hold him back. Unfortunately he was a second too late and one of Buckbeak's talons slashed a deep gash down the arm Malfoy raised in defense. Hagrid drove the hippogriffs away from the students as Madam Pomfrey calmly walked over to Malfoy, mended his arm with a flick of her wand, and put him on a stretcher levitating him behind her as she headed for the hospital wing muttering to herself as she went.

"Well tha' was an adventure," Hagrid commented dryly, though he looked a bit pale, "This is prolly as good an end to a class as any. You don' have me for another week o' so, so I'll send out a notice fer what ter read fer next time. Judgin' from the firs' day I think that some people need to have gentler less'ns at firs'."

--------

The rest of the week was exhausting to say the least. Snape was as abominable as ever, though it appeared that he was continuing to lighten up, simply telling Hermione to point Neville in the right direction, but not do it for him, as his Shrinking Solution was a bright orange color instead of the proper sickly green. Normally he would have threatened to administer the potion to a belonging of Neville's to "properly motivate" him and take points away if anyone helped him.

Malfoy had decided to milk the attack in Care for Magical Creatures for all it was worth and was claiming that his arm wasn't fully healed, keeping it bandaged up. Due to his dramatization of what had happened Gryffindor would not be playing the Slytherins in the first match of the year as per tradition but instead the Hufflepuffs. Normally this wouldn't even faze the Gryffindor Team Captain Oliver Wood, who would say that playing the Hufflepuffs was like the Chudley Cannons playing the Holyhead Harpies.

However the Hufflepuffs seemed to be putting forth a strong team this year under the Captaincy of a Cedric Diggory, who Harry would be facing up against as Seeker. Wood put a complete one-eighty in the Gryffindors training in preparation for the vastly different playing style they would soon be facing.

The Gryffindors had their first lesson with Lupin at the end of the week. Having a boggart trapped in a closet in the staff room, Lupin had students take turns facing it resulting in perhaps the most humorous class they'd had yet. This was because the way to defeat a boggart, a creature that fed of the fears of other creatures, was to make it look funny. Strange things happened to the personified fears of students: Snape, who terrified Neville, was dressed in Neville's grandmothers clothing; Ron's giant spider was given eight pairs of roller skates so that it couldn't stand up; Harry hadn't been able to think of something that really scared him for a while, eventually settling on a dementor, which turned hot pink and started making everyone feel happy instead of cold and depressed.

The week turned sour though as Hagrid sent Hermione a letter saying that the Malfoy's were filing a grievance against Buckbeak and was wondering if she and the boys could help him with the hippogriffs defense.

Hermione instantly through herself into the task whole-heartedly, but was eventually pulled off it by Ron who volunteered to take over. This surprised Hermione so much that she actually let him do it.

"You know," Harry said to Ginny as Ron and Hermione bantered over their breakfasts, "If I didn't know Ron any better, I'd say he's got a bit of a crush on Hermione."

"Is it because they constantly argue but never seem to say anything that would truly offend the other or the fact that my brother is actually spending time studying?" Ginny asked, pouring herself some more pumpkin juice.

"They don't offend each other?" Harry asked incredulously, "Please, they stopped talking for a full day mid-week because of something Ron said. And when did Ron start studying more?"

"Well you're doing it too so it doesn't seem like he's doing it anymore than usual because he's not doing any more than you are."

Harry thought for a moment. He was spending more time with his books than usual. "Hermione seems to be having an adverse affect on our mental states," he commented, stuffing sausages into his mouth.

"I think that was what she was trying to accomplish with taking so many classes," Ginny said, "And it appears that Crookshanks is having more than one affect on Scabbers as well."

Crookshanks the cat came bounding across the table in a ginger blur, shortly followed by a much smaller brown blur. Scabbers the rat was chasing Crookshanks around the Great Hall.

"What'da suppose he'll do with Crookshanks once he catches him?" Ginny asked.

"Dunno," Harry said, "I don't think the rat has ever caught the cat before."

------------

As Robert had hinted at on the train ride home last summer, permission slips had been mailed to students over the summer for their parents to sign in concerns to going to Hogsmeade Village on designated weekends. Gabriel had signed Harry's without a second thought and had written a letter saying that if anyone refused to let Harry go, saying that Sirius Black could be lurking in the shadows waiting for Harry to walk passed, he'd first write them a nasty letter, send them a Howler, and then pay them a personal visit to get their heads straight. Even if Black was completely mad, he said, there was no way in hell that he would attack and kill Harry in broad daylight in front of several hundred witnesses.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had returned from the village laden with sweets from Honeydukes and joke paraphernalia from Zonko's to give to Ginny, who couldn't go just yet and was feeling slightly left out.

Ginny had spent the day in Lupin's office, talking with him about upcoming lessons, what had happened last year, and reported the her older friends that Snape had given him a steaming goblet of potion to drink. Harry, knowing that Lupin was a werewolf and that the full moon was approaching, told them to not concern themselves with it. They didn't believe him until he told them what he knew (He's a _werewolf_? Is he _safe_!? Hermione had squeaked).

--------------

"Remus," came the drawling voice next to Remus Lupin at the staff table during the Halloween Feast. He turned in its direction, noting that Severus Snape looked as ill-natured as ever.

"What's on your mind, Severus?" Remus asked, cutting a piece off of his roast and putting it in his mouth. Teaching at Hogwarts was definitely one of the best decisions of his life, mainly by the excellent practically free food that was available to him.

"This map that you and your fellow _Marauders_ created; do you have any idea where it could be?" his oily colleague asked him.

"I have a hunch on who might have found it," Remus said, "But if you're planning on using it to find Sirius make other plans. Sirius knows the map by heart, as do I, and due to his training as an Auror and his adolescent adventures as a Marauder he is quite in tune to his surroundings. He'd know that you're there before you'd even spotted him."

"If that was the case how did they catch him?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well when authorities reached the Potter's house he was slumped against the wall and appeared to have just regained consciousness," Remus said, "That's all I know about his arrest as they the Magical Law Enforcement Officers are considering the details of his arrest highly classified and refuse to give them to anyone."

"Convenient, isn't it," Severus said with a smirk.

"Indeed it is," Remus said, "So convenient that any person with any sort of logic could already make the argument that his arrest had no evidence supporting that he had done anything illicit and the fact that he had no trial makes the lack of evidence even more obvious."

"I suppose you're right," Severus grumbled.

"I'm not saying it because I'm his old friend," Remus said, looking at his old enemy, "I'm saying it because the two greatest wizards of the modern age say it: Albus Dumbledore and Gabriel Munro."

"I am well aware of the _Great Gabriel_!" Severus fumed, his fist tightening on his fork so hard that his knuckles began turning white.

"Sorry. Did I strike a sour memory?" Remus asked mildly, "And I'm sure that Gabriel would be quite offended with you calling him that."

"And this is because the greatest Auror of modern times is humble, I assume?" Severus asked sarcastically.

"The only thing that Gabriel has done that he is in the slightest bit impressed with is the fact that he got to meet all the members of the muggle television show Monty Python's Flying Circus before the first one of them died a few years ago," Remus said, "he found that show immensely funny. I've seen a few of their shows and can say that it's incredibly silly." He laughed, "I mean, a bunch of men just out of college, that's a muggle school of high education, perhaps a few years older, dressed in smashing suits, talking about how bad things used to be in their childhood and as they work their way around the circle of men the terrible conditions of their life gets continuously worse and worse until it gets to the point that it is absurd that they're lives were like that. The best condition was living in a rolled up newspaper in a septic tank, where the family had to get up at six in the morning and clean the newspaper which had a load of rotting fish dumped on it every morning, after a meager breakfast they then went and work at the mill fourteen hours a day for six pence a week and upon returning home their father would thrash them to sleep with his belt."

Severus's eye began twitching as Remus told his story.

"But it didn't end there," Remus continued, "the worst conditions was where the family had to get up in the morning at ten o' clock at night, which happened to be half an hour before they went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison for breakfast, work 29 hours a day at the mill, paying the owner for permission to come to work, and when they arrived home their father would kill them and dance singing "Halleluiah" among their graves."

Severus made a strangled sort of snickering noise which he quickly squashed by drinking his fire whiskey. Unbeknownst to the students at Hogwarts, the teachers usually had much harder drinks at the evening meal, mainly to deal with the stress from the little devils. Fire whiskey, as it turned out, was one of the more popular drinks.

"I realize that we had our little scuffles in the past," Remus said, changing subjects, "but considering the circumstances, and the fact that you seem to have realized just how much of a git you were back in school, you were actually worse than James you realize that, I think that it would be best if we put things behind us and actually attempted to be civil."

"If you expect that when Black's name is cleared, don't deny that's what you want Remus, that I'll be all "buddy-buddy" with him you…"

"Severus the reason why Sirius held you in such high esteem was because you took pleasure in hexing every girl he ever went out with. He and James never knew but Peter and I held bets on how long a girl would last because you would find out and curse the poor thing within a week and a half at the longest. By the time our fifth year rolled around the only reason why girls kept dating Sirius was because he was one of the most capable students in the school and could counter the effects of whatever jinx you put on the girl," Remus said coolly over his meal, "Well, that and he had dashingly good looks."

"I remember…"

"I also believe that it was our fifth year that Lily finally had had enough of your antics and preferred James' pranks to the way you tormented younger students, especially muggle-borns," Remus' eyes narrowed, "Gabriel's son Robert told me about the little conversation he had with you about that photo of Lily that you have. Last I was in your office she still glared at you with deepest loathing. Have you had the epiphany that your actions toward muggle-borns were rather hypocritical to the way you liked her: a _muggle-born_?"

Severus opened his mouth to respond but a message sent down the staff table prevented him from doing so.

"It seems that Sirius Black is within the school," Dumbledore addressed the teachers, "He was seen by the Fat Lady as he tried to gain entrance to Gryffindor Common Room. He quietly left when he was denied and none of the other pictures have seen him. Any comments?"

"Have the students stay here in the Great Hall for tonight," Minerva suggested, "that way we can keep an eye on them while we search for Black."

"How did he get in?" Filius squeaked.

"Sirius knows the grounds very well," Remus put in, "Trust me. The only other people who know the grounds as well as he does are myself, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter. Actually, he might know the castle grounds better than I, he sometimes explored solo when we were here as students."

"If anyone should find him," Dumbledore said, "if you can apprehend him, bring him directly to me. Do not question that order."

A murmur of agreement went around the staff table.

* * *

_Ok, I know that Hagrid and Professor Trelawney don't act like that in the book but this isn't the book. Hagrid is around seventy or so according to the book and even if he isn't well educated he's far smarter than the book portrays him to be. As for Professor Trelawney, I've modeled her new character after a chemistry teacher I once had who constantly made fun of the subject he taught and made snide comments about his own incompetance during lecture. Anyway that's just where I came up with those trains of thought._

_Let me know what you think, please review._


	9. Prisoner of Azkaban part III

Disclaimer: I've said it already it doesn't need to be said again.

Ok, so far only one person has given me an idea for a potential Weasley prank. This is unacceptable. While I have access to funny things like Monty Python, Whose Line is it Anyway, and various other comedians, most of that material isn't pranks. Their witty things for Robert, Gabriel, and other people who have similar sarcastic, dry senses of humor to say. I would like a little more prank material please.

* * *

"Harry? Harry?"

Harry groaned, squinting into the dull, yet painful light that was around him.

"Harry!"

Harry, still groaning, turned his head in the direction of the insistent voice next to him. Ginny Weasley was kneeling next to his bed.

"Ginny? What happened? I remember playing Quidditch and racing Cedric Diggory for the Snitch when everything started going cold and there was someone screaming but I was too high up for it to be as clear as it was," Harry asked.

"Dementors attacked the Quidditch Field," Ginny whispered, "Pretty much all the players from both teams were in here but they got released after a large amount of chocolate. I'm still getting "completely chilled" as Madam Pomfrey's calling it from the dementors so I have to stay the night like you. You took a rather nasty fall, thankfully landing in perhaps the squishiest patch of mud on the field, which is why you're still here."

Harry glanced around, finally noticing that he was in the Hospital Wing. "I'm guessing I didn't catch the Snitch," he stated, looking back at Ginny.

"No," she said, handing him his glasses so he didn't have to squint at her, "Diggory caught it moments after you fell. He felt that it was unfair, saying that you'd have caught it if you hadn't fallen. It didn't matter though; Gryffindor still won 110-30. Wood's too good to allow many goals and we still have by far the best Chasers in the school."

"Yeah, but Hufflepuff still gets fifty extra points toward the Quidditch Cup," Harry grunted. He tried to sit up, failing miserably.

"Here," Ginny said, helping him sit up, "Madam Pomfrey told me to have you eat this as soon as you woke up."

Harry looked at the large bar of chocolate, knowing he should eat it, but not wanting to. In the end he gave in and ate it slowly, feeling minimally better.

"What do you mean "getting completely chilled"?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at Ginny.

Ginny, now sitting on Harry's hospital bed, shivered; hugging her knees to her chest. "I go back to last year," she whimpered, "every time I woke back up and he was making me—making me—Oh, Harry!" she sobbed, burying her face his chest, "he forced me to masturbate! And sometimes he'd make me do it while I could still tell what was going on! I—I—I felt so dirty, and at the same time it felt good and…" she trailed off, her sobs coming harder.

"Shh," Harry rocked her as he had seen people do this in the muggle movies that he and Robert liked to watch, "It's alright. He's gone, like Robert said last year, and he's not coming back. Here," he offered her his chocolate, "I think you need this more than I do."

Ginny wolfed the chocolate down like there was no tomorrow and returned her face to Harry's chest. Harry felt a little awkward, this was his best friends little sister after all. But at the same time it felt…right. He was going to need to ask Robert about this feeling next time he saw him.

Feeling his back starting to get stiff, Harry tried to lie back, but Ginny held on to him tightly. Eventually she yielded and allowed him to lie back down, though she was still clinging to him. Actually she was practically lying on top of him, still sniffling into his chest.

Deciding to reduce the awkwardness, and the blatant obviousness that there were two people in the same bed, Harry rolled over, turning his back to Madam Pomfrey's office, hiding Ginny from view.

"You know, Ginny," he said softly, "I think that I can hear my parents, when Voldemort came to try and kill me, when the dementors are around me."

"Why is that?" Ginny sniffed looking up at Harry.

'She has cute eyes,' Harry thought, 'Where did that come from?'

"I can't make everything out," he said out loud, "but I can hear a woman screaming. She says things like "No, not Harry. Take me. Kill me instead." It's kinda disturbing if you ask me and it's like a badly tuned radio so it's rather distorted."

"Probably because you were too young to have a good memory of it," Ginny offered, "I remember everything in vivid…de...tail…*yawn*"

Harry looked down and saw that Ginny was fast asleep. He was beginning to feel a little drowsy himself. 'Must've been a sleeping potion in the chocolate,' he mused before drifting off to sleep.

---------------------

Thankfully Harry awoke before Madam Pomfrey came to check on him and Ginny in the morning and returned Ginny to a separate bed, hoping that it had been the one she had been left in. Madam Pomfrey gave them a quick check over before letting them go to breakfast. Before Harry left she pulled him aside, saying, "That was probably the best thing you could have done for her, Potter," and winking at him. Harry turned red as he realized she had known about the sleeping arrangement of the patients last night.

The rest of the Gryffindor Team, and Cedric Diggory, greeted him as he entered the Great Hall. Cedric was extremely relieved to find out that Harry was alright and wished him luck on his broom. Harry asked his own team what that was about as they sat down to inform him about the aftermath of the match. As it turned out, his Nimbus Two Thousand hadn't stopped when he fell and hit a tree known as the Whomping Willow, which was a rather violent tree in the middle of the castle grounds that swung its branches at anything that came near it.

To Harry's great relief his broom was still in fixable condition, but it would take a great deal of repair for it to work properly again and it might not work the same.

Malfoy was rather pleased with the results of the match and was performing reenactments of Harry falling from his broom over at the Slytherin table.

"Don't mind him," Ron said, coming over and sitting by Harry, shortly followed by Hermione, "I suspect he's going to get a nasty shock when he finds out about the grievance hearing. I managed to find a load of stuff that makes the entire thing his fault. On top of that most of the class, including several Slytherin's, have given testimonies saying that he insulted Buckbeak and Madam Pomfrey was present as well."

"Still be nice to hit him where it hurts," grumbled Harry, taking a bite out of his toast.

"Don't you fret," George said, smiling at him.

"We've got an idea that will be just about humiliating enough," Fred finished, grinning at his twin.

"You know how we've been thinking about opening a joke shop after we graduate?" George asked.

"Well this is one of our idea's that we haven't tested just yet," Fred filled in, "he'll be the perfect test subject."

---------------------

School life went on much as it had before the game. Though the new murmurings of how angry the headmaster had looked when he burst onto the field, waving his wand, firing a fast moving silver object from it driving the dementors away was now added to the murmurings of Sirius Black being in the area of the castle. Many students, especially the younger ones, were still shaken up from the night where they all slept in the Great Hall as the teachers searched the school for he escaped convict.

Harry grew bored at Quidditch practice as the weeks drew on as he couldn't train properly on the Comet Two-Sixty he was using from the school's inventory while his own broom was being repaired. It seemed like it was taking a very long time for the procedure to be completed.

School work mounted up. Divination was as difficult as Professor Trelawney had told them, but she was giving in the work they gave her. She would sometimes read interpretations of students' dreams out loud to the class when she thought she found a clever one. The class gained respect for her as she made minor predictions that would come to pass outside of class, for which she kept a tally of how many came true. By the time December rolled around her record was 12 correct 12 wrong, which she told the class was incredibly high for her. She usually only scored around seven or eight.

Herbology and Care for Magical Creatures slugged along. Harry and Ron, while not being completely baffled with the subject, still couldn't understand all of the magical plants that Professor Sprout taught them about. Neville on the other hand far outshone Hermione in the class and, in exchange for help in DADA, conveniently stood next to them with Hermione on the other side so that the two of them could help the struggling boys.

Hagrid, being in his first year of teaching, had the difficulties of a new teacher, not always sure how to best approach a new subject with the students, but for the most part that was the extent of his problems. After Hippogriffs they studied many species of magical birds, including an extremely rare Thunderbird that was larger than Hagrid. They had only gone into brief detail with it, Hagrid saying that it was suited for much older students to study and he only introduced them to the bird as it was going to be staying for a while so that the older, N.E.W.T. level students could study it.

DADA with Lupin continued to be as exciting as Robert's classes had been last year. They were studying more harmful magical creatures this term and after the boggart Lupin brought in creatures such as Red Caps and grindylows, the first being a goblinlike creature that lurked in old torture chambers and deserted battlefields, anywhere that had bloodshed, and the second a type of water demon that had long, strong fingers that could hold tight, but were very brittle. They lived in packs so were dangerous if they swarmed you.

Lupin unfortunately was ill several times, around the full moons, where Snape would fill in for him. Those lessons tended to be a little nasty as Snape's teaching style was far different from Lupin's. During one such lesson Snape skipped ahead in the book to where werewolves were covered and spent the lesson there. Harry had wondered if Snape was trying to get the students to realize what Lupin was, until he saw handwritten on the chalkboard by Lupin that they were covering werewolves and there was an essay over the difficulties of a werewolf's life and how to deal with an aggressive werewolf due by the next class time.

"This just gets more intense every year doesn't it?" Ron said as they furiously worked on the werewolf essay. On top of that they had cleaning charms to practice for Professor Flitwick, an essay on the origins of the Pepper-Up Potion for Snape, and had to be able to turn a snake egg into a chicken for Professor McGonagall by next Thursday.

Harry grunted in response, looking over the conclusion to his essay. Gabriel had written him that Robert wasn't making much progress on his assignment due to the amount of people he was having to track down and monitor. Likewise, Gabriel himself was having equal luck on the search for Sirius Black. Though from his letter, Harry had the suspicion that Gabriel wasn't trying very hard to find him.

Ginny usually studied with Ron and Harry, mainly because the girls in her year seemed to just want to talk about boys and not get things done. They were slightly jealous of Ginny for _sitting with the Great Harry Potter_. That never failed to get a laugh out of Ron when Ginny gushingly restated the words of the girls in her dorm room.

Hermione on the other hand seemed to be getting less sleep than any other person in the school. She stayed in the library well after Harry and Ron did, and Ginny made them stay quite a while not wanting to go back to her dorm just yet, and after returning to the Common Room would stay up for several more hours poring over her text books and writing essay after essay for her classes.

-------------------

"Harry," Lupin greeted him as he knocked on Lupin's door, "come in. What can I do for you?"

"It's the dementors, Professor," Harry said, "If they show up again during a match Gryffindor is out of the Quidditch Cup standings no matter how good our Chasers are. Ravenclaw trounced Hufflepuff, though Cedric caught the Snitch again, and the Slytherin's are looking stronger this year. If I collapse again in a match due to the dementors…"

"You're wanting me to teach you that Patronus Charm that I told you about earlier," Lupin stated rather than asked, "Well, I can't say that it will be an easy thing to do, the charm is rather advanced, but since you seem to be doing well in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts I'd say that given the amount of time we have until your next match you might be able to have something that would lessen the effects of the dementors."

"Thanks Professor," Harry grinned, "when can we start might I ask?"

"I'll need to hunt down the closest thing to a dementor that I'd care to work with," Lupin said, pulling a bottle of Butterbeer from a cooler, and setting out two glasses, "Drink Harry?"

"Thanks," Harry said, picking up one of the glasses, "I'm guessing that would be a boggart that you'd be looking for."

"Correct," Lupin smiled, sipping his own drink.

"Have I ever told you that I hear my parents when I'm around the dementors?" Harry asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

"What?!" Lupin exclaimed, jerking his head in Harry's direction.

"I think I can hear my parents final moments when I'm around the dementors," Harry said again, "It's difficult to tell really, but I can definitely hear Mum pleading with Voldemort, and at times I can hear what sounds like three men all shouting at something. But it's even more indistinct, like they're in a different room."

"Three men?" Lupin asked, leaning in a little closer.

"Yeah," Harry said, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Sirius Black was apprehended at your parents house that night," Lupin said, "Your father's body was a few feet away from him. I believe he was found just as he was regaining consciousness. No other bodies, other than your mothers, were found. Not even Voldemort's."

"Well Voldemort wasn't the third person," Harry snorted, "his voice was high pitched and cold. These voices weren't like that. They were angry, especially a…it wasn't exactly a squeaky voice, but you get the idea."

"Interesting," was all that Lupin said.

"Can I ask what's interesting?" Harry asked getting up to leave, having finished his Butterbeer.

"A good friend of mine named Peter Pettigrew, we've told you about him before, had a squeaky sort of voice," Lupin mused, "The last time he was seen was the night your parents were killed. No one has seen a trace of him since. _We can't even find his wand._"

-----------

"Have any of you seen Scabbers?" Ron asked the feast before the Christmas Holiday.

"No, sorry Ron," Seamus said, "And the last time we saw Hermione's cat he was frantically looking for something but seemed to be unable to find it."

"Probably Scabbers," groaned Ron, "Brilliant, rat's been in the family for eight years and then disappears into thin air."

"It's not like he did much Ron," Dean said over his turkey drumstick.

"Yeah, but he was still a pet and he didn't just lay about and get fed," Ron retorted, "Wish I knew what the curse was that hit him in Egypt."

"Well I hope you have a more eventful holiday than we do," Neville said, changing subjects, "We're heading back home where we can expect the exact same thing to happen again for the thirteenth time in our lives."

"You have a point there," Harry said, draining his goblet.

---------------------

"Alright then," Ron said to Ginny as she came into the dorm where he and Harry slept. Practically everyone had gone home, save Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and a couple other students, for the holidays.

"Hermione still sleeping?" Ron asked, taking the pillow from his bed.

"Yeah," Ginny said.

"Let's let her sleep a while longer," Ron suggested, "just wake Harry up so that we can play risk or something."

Ginny nodded, picking up another pillow. Quietly they snuck over to Harry's bed, where he still laid, the sheets pulled over his head.

"One," Ron whispered, "Two…Three!"

The pair of Weasley's began pummeling the sleeping figure with the pillows with all their might. Sadly though, Harry remained fast asleep.

"What's up with him? Does he usually sleep this heavily?" Ginny asked.

"No," Ron said, pulling back the sheets revealing a pile of loose clothing, "He seems to have anticipated us." He began looking around the room cautiously, pillow raised.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked her brother, not holding her pillow up.

"He's around here somewhere," Ron said, picking up a second pillow from Harry's bed. He scanned the room, making hissing noises as he turned his head.

Ginny had a second to register that Harry was not actually the intended target of this morning's pillow fight before a pillow from a bed on the far side of the room shot straight at her head. Not having time to block it she received the pillow full force to her face, knocking her flat on her back on the bed behind her.

She began to rise from the bed, but stopped as she heard Ron say "_Immobulus"_. Her heart started racing, she was at the mercy of her brother and Harry now and couldn't do anything to stop them from anything. Not that they'd do anything bad to her but the memories from her first year still haunted her.

"And now, dear sister," Ron said, twirling his wand in his fingers, "We present to you a Day in the Life of the Invisible Man."

"I go to work every morning by train," Harry's voice came from somewhere in the room, Ginny had no idea where, "and on my way there I eventually get a little bored and being to irritate the people around me. First I pick someone who looks like an appropriate target."

There was a short pause as Ginny decided was for dramatic effect. Ron had sat down on Harry's bed and seemed to be only observing what was going on.

"I then blow gently in her left ear," Harry's voice continued, followed by gust of cool air blowing in her ear, "followed by her right," cool air blew into her right ear, "and then, perhaps down the back of her neck."

"Oh!" Ginny gasped as a breath of cool air sent shivers down her back.

"At this point she probably thinks that I am a draft," Harry's voice went on, "but not for long as I soon begin to manipulate some of her limbs."

Invisible hands took hold of her wrists, pulling her up, and began smacking her with her own hands. Lightly, but still. Then the hands pulled her to her feet and began moving her around the room, twirling her, making her jump up and down (it was easier than moving a mannequin because a mannequin didn't stay rigid like a person caught in a Freezing Charm did), eventually putting her back down on the bed.

"Then I leave her alone…for about ten seconds."

The hands left her momentarily but returned grabbing her ankles and spinning her around on the bed. Ron was cracking up on the other bed, but Ginny hadn't quite seen what was so funny in all this.

"And then when she as her most vulnerable," Harry's voice rose to a dramatic tone, Ginny felt dread seep into her, "I TICKLE HER!"

Ginny's dread dissolved into massive bouts of giggles as the invisible hands began tickling her mercilessly.

"All…right…Harry…you…can...stop…now!" she managed to breathe through her laughter.

The hands stopped, only after she was laughing so hard that it was difficult to breathe and Harry appeared next to the bed, folding a silvery cloak and putting it back in his trunk.

"_Finite Incantatem,"_ Ron said, pointing his wand at Ginny, who regained the ability to move about on her own volition.

"That wasn't funny," she smirked at them, sticking her tongue out at them.

"We thought it was," Harry grinned.

Ginny giggled, "Ok, yes it was," she admitted, "come'n, we've got presents to unwrap."

They found Hermione bent over a large text book in the common room several meters away from the pile of presents.

"Mione, do you ever stop?" Ron asked.

"I can't, I've got to finish this by the time classes' start again and that's an extension on the due date," Hermione said, sounding very tired, "and then I've got to start working on…"

"Come off it Hermione," Ginny said, "It's Christmas! We've got presents to open!"

"I'll join you when I'm done," Hermione called, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny looked at each other and pulled out their wands.

"_Incarcerous,"_ Ginny said, ropes appeared out of nowhere, tying Hermione to the chair.

"_Locomortor chair,"_ Ron chanted, levitating her chair into the air and moving it across the room away from the text book. Hermione protesting loudly the entire way; mainly about being taken away from the book and not the fact that Ron was holding her several feet in the air by a simple levitation charm.

"_Arresto Momentum,"_ Harry said, causing Hermione to slowly glide to the floor as Ron released his charm.

"Isn't that spell a little advanced for a second year student to know?" Ron asked Ginny as they walked over to Hermione (Let me up, guys! I need to finish that!).

"Well it's not like those spells aren't advanced for you either," Ginny said, walking up to Hermione, "Ok, girl, it's Christmas Morning and there are presents to be opened. Said presents take precedence over homework, as does eating and sleeping, which you shall do after you unwrap presents with us when we go to the Great Hall for Lunch and when you return here and go straight to bed."

Hermione gave in, mainly because her wand was over on the table next to her books and the other three still had their wands.

Opening the presents had its usual joyous atmosphere. Hermione was untied, her arms anyway, so that she could unwrap her own. She received cat treats from Ron (intended for Crookshanks who was still looking for Scabbers), _10,000 Seemingly Useless Facts_, a book filled with random knowledge, as a joint present from Gabriel and Robert, coffee grounds from her parents (Ron and Ginny looked at them with great curiosity), a Weasley Sweater from Mrs. Weasley (It was dark brown and matched her hair perfectly, oddly looking very good for an odd color), Ginny and Harry collaborated on a joint gift and gave her _Famous Muggleborn Witches_ which was surprisingly written by their own Head of House, Minerva McGonagall.

Ron received his own new sweater, Chocolate Frogs from Hermione as per tradition, a stunning new chess set from Gabriel, and a Quidditch play book from Harry amongst his other gifts.

Ginny, chocolate from Harry, _The Gift of Laughter_ by Gabriel Munro _from_ Gabriel (she received new robes for her birthday), sweater from her mum, and various odd assortments of gifts from other people.

Harry received much the same gifts, a new sweater from Mrs. Weasley and a book entitled _Don't Panic It Could Be Worse_ from Robert, which was a book full of strange stories that had happened to wizards.

Ron and Harry were in the process of untying Hermione the rest of the way when Ginny noticed a final present. A long, slender package addressed to Harry.

"What do you suppose this is?" Ron scratched his head.

"Dunno," Harry said, unwrapping it. They all gapped at what was inside.

It was a Firebolt. A brand new one too. And though they searched through the wrappings they couldn't find a card saying who it was from.

"Not a bad present," Ron complimented as the four of them headed down to the Great Hall, "I mean your Nimbus isn't bad and should be done with repairs soon, why do you think it's taken so long anyway?, but a Firebolt! Wow! You'll make all the other players look like little kids on that broom!"

"But who sent it?" Hermione wondered.

They didn't speculate much more as they entered the Great Hall, which had the long House Tables pushed up against the wall and a smaller table sat in the middle which sat Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, and Flitwick (the Heads of Houses), along with Filch the caretaker, and the few other students that were staying at the castle over the holiday.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore greeted them, "Please, come, dig in!"

They had just sat down when Professor Trelawney swept in.

"Don't mind me," she told them in her misty voice, "I just saw that you had pudding and thought to see if I could get some. Professor Lupin and Madam Pomfrey also want a few things so I'll take their requests to the Hospital Wing for them on my way back to my loft."

"Pity Remus had to fall ill," Dumbledore said, "I'm sure he'd love the feast."

"Most likely," Trelawney said, waving her wand to levitate the various plates above her head, "And Potter, it seems that there are thirteen people at this table. If you could be the first to rise, I need material for my "death predictions" as I'm running low."

"Pity she couldn't stay," Dumbledore said as she left with the food, "any interesting gifts that you've received? Anyone?"

"Harry got a Firebolt from an anonymous giver," Ginny said quietly.

"Did he now?" McGonagall asked, "As wonderful as that is to hear Potter I'm afraid due to circumstances we'll need to "strip the broom" to make sure that it is safe for use."

"How long would that take?" Harry looked distraught. Ginny knew why, he'd just received an amazing new broom and less than an hour later no longer had possession of it.

"Not long," Snape, of all people replied.

Everyone at the table looked at the Potions Master like he had come to the meal wearing yellow robes, except for Flitwick.

"Indeed not long," he squeaked, "As Severus seems to know there was a rather ingenious charm placed on that model broom to make it as safe as possible. Since it can do serious damage to the rider if tampered with, due to its incredible speed, the makers put a charm on the broom that would make the broom fireproof as long as it hadn't been tampered with. That's why its name is the "Firebolt"."

"So all you have to do is see if the broom will catch fire and if it doesn't it's safe?" Sprout asked.

"Correct," Snape said coolly.

"And how might you know?" McGonagall asked, an amused smile trying desperately to hide itself.

"Alright, I admit," Snape said in a very un-Snapeish voice (mock exasperation), "I have a subscription to a Quidditch magazine which I sometimes read in my spare time."

------------------

Robert breathed out a long breathe, watching as it condensed into a visible puff of steam. He had started this assignment mid-July after the school year ended for Harry and his friends. Now, as February's early days were ending nearly seven months later, he was finally done.

Of course he wasn't completely sure if he was done, but no other suspects quite matched up with the circumstances of Danica Mathis for being the child of Voldemort. Robert laughed to himself as he walked toward his old friend's house in the small town of Minocqua, Wisconsin in the United States of America.

He and Danica had met at the Masonic School of Magic in his final year there. Danica was two years younger than he was and was struggling to keep up with her classes. It wasn't helping that her mother had recently passed away and her father had never been there for her so she was living by herself at the age of fifteen. Taking a liking to her, Robert and a few other friends welcomed her into their study groups. Tanya Hardy was studying to be a Healer, conveniently what Danica was also aspiring to become, and the two hit off great.

Danica had recently passed her Healers tests and was applying to various hospitals for positions.

Though if what Robert had found was true hardly any of that mattered at this point and it was imperative that she knew about her circumstances as one of Roberts colleagues, who was as much a mentor to him as his father was, had come back from a mission tracking down some Voldemort Death Eaters who had been in hiding somewhere in Albania that the Dark Lord's heir had been discovered and that they were going to go after her soon.

Danica being the only female suspect remaining by that point was suddenly an obvious choice for him to take and Robert immediately set off to tell her what he had discovered, and if need be protect her.

Walking up the front path to her small house Robert flicked his wand out of his coat sleeve, muttering protection wards as he approached the house. He and his roommate in training school, a black wizard named Gavin Robbins, had worn wrist holsters for their wands. A simple flick of their wrist and they'd be ready for a face off. A few years later they had learned some basic wandless magic and vanished the holster and wand, summoning the wand out of "non-being" when needed. It was far more comfortable than the old wrist holsters they had worn.

"Hi!" Danica greeted him brightly as he walked up the steps to her door, "Don't worry about me noticing you. I set up some alert wards to go off if someone was walking to my door so I didn't have to scramble to answer it as they knocked insistently. Came in handy as I was working on Healer School work and now Hospital Applications!"

"Chipper as ever, Dani," Robert smirked, feeling better seen that his "friend" was still quite well. 'Good, I got here before the Death Eaters,' he thought gratefully.

"Coffee? Hot Chocolate?" Danica asked, leading the way into her small house, "Or something stronger? Butterbeer? French Meade? I know, Dragons Blood!"

Dragons Blood wasn't actually the blood of a dragon. It was a beverage a little stronger than firewhiskey that was thick and red, like blood might be like.

"Butterbeer will be fine," Robert told her, removing his heavy Great Coat. As conspicuous as the large coat might make him it was definitely appropriate for the cold Wisconsin winters. Not nearly as cold as some of the winter conditions he'd seen in parts of Northern Europe or the state of Alaska, but it was cold enough.

"So what brings you here today?" Danica asked, brining the bottle of Butterbeer into the living room, "Have you come to ask me on another date?" She smiled slyly at Robert.

"_Sorry, but no,"_ Robert hissed, shifting into Parseltongue, _"As much as I'd like to take you to a club and have you flirt shamelessly with other boys then have me walk over and you start making out with me, destroying the poor boys hopes, I'm actually here on business."_

"_What kind of business?"_ Danica asked. She had unconsciously slipped into Parseltongue; which was pretty much all Robert needed to convince him she was the one he was looking for. On top of her ability to charm just about anyone, something remarkably similar to Tom Riddle's ability, she had the ability to speak Parseltongue, coupled with her British mother who apparently had her after a rape attack (quite possibly by Voldemort), moving to the States to get away from it all.

"_I've been on an assignment to find the true Heir of Slytherin,"_ Robert told her, _"Last year at Hogwarts School I was the DADA teacher. The Chamber of Secrets was opened, you remember that old legend don't you?, and it appeared that the Basilisk dwelling within the Chamber did not recognize Tom Riddle a.k.a. Voldemort as the Heir of Slytherin."_

"_So who is the Heir?"_ Danica asked, sipping her drink, shuddering a little at the mention of Voldemort's name.

"_You do realize we're speaking in Parseltongue?"_ Robert asked her casually.

"_What?"_ Danica blurted, staring at him.

"_Parseltongue,"_ Robert said, _"Snake Language. The ability is passed on genetically or if you get bitten by a poisonous magical snake, though that way is like learning a new language, only you can speak it it's not in your genetic code or anything."_

"_What's this got to do with anything?"_ Danica asked, quavering slightly.

"_Well, we both know that you haven't been bitten by a snake like I was,"_ Robert said, finishing his drink, _"So the only real logical assumption that can be made is that it's 'in your blood'. Your mother was a rape victim,"_ he waited for Danica to nod, she was turning rather pale, _"It's possible that you are the child of Lord Voldemort. This means that __you__ could be the Heir of Slytherin."_

Danica dropped her Butterbeer, spilling it on the carpet. Robert cleaned up the mess with a quick wave of his wand.

"I—I—what's this going to mean for me?" she asked.

"Probably not much," Robert responded, replying in English as she had slipped out of Parseltongue, "It would just mean that you'd have a rather large pet snake in the bowls of Hogwarts, and that Death Eaters would be out to get you, seeing as you're their master's heir."

"But all the Death Eaters are in prisons," Danica said, "aren't they?"

"Not all of them," Robert said, "some managed to buy their way out, saying that they'd made an error and they've changed. Others have simply eluded capture for the last thirteen years. The most dangerous ones are in Azkaban or similar prisons around the world, but the reason why I narrowed my search down to you was because a fellow Auror told me that some Death Eaters had been working on a similar project to me and had found who they thought was Voldemort's heir. They referred to the heir as a "she" so since you were the only one left on my list of potentials that was a girl…"

"_They're coming here!?_" Danica squeaked.

"Quite possibly," Robert said, "Why don't we leave before they have a chance. And on our way why don't we stop at a club somewhere for some relaxation I think you need some."

Danica nodded stiffly as Robert summoned her coat, hat, gloves, and many of her belongings, placing them (not included her outdoor apparel) into a small bag which he enlargened to hold it all. Putting his own coat back on, he handed the bag to Danica, who put it into her inside coat pocket and followed him out the door.

* * *

_I would like to thank Rowan Atkinson for being funny. He's the comedian I got the "Invisible Man" thing that Harry and Ron pulled on Ginny from._

_In this chapter we have seen a slightly more serious side to Robert, hopefully in the next chapter he can be back to his usual self._

_Please review. And give me prank idea's. Pretty please?_


	10. Prisoner of Azkaban part IV

Ok, you people are lame. I know that this isn't exactly the most popular story out there (it only has 25 reviews after all) and that it hasn't been that long since I last updated, but I've only gotten two review for the chapter nine so far (todays date is 10/29/09) and I've had over 160 hits to that chapter alone by this date. Is it too much to ask for you to spend one perhaps two minutes of your time to give me a piece of you mind on my story? If you're like me with this website you spend far more time on here than you should. So spending an extra sixty seconds to give me a short review isn't taking too much time away.

For those of you who do review, thank you, your thoughts and prank idea's are useful.

Anyway, enough of my pointless complaining. Onto the story:

* * *

"How's that potion coming along Fred?" George asked his twin brother.

"So far so good," Fred responded, "It's a little thicker than last time so this time it might just work."

"How long do you reckon we'll need to let it stew for?" George pondered, "Last time we let it stew for a week and it still didn't have much of an effect, just sort of made me sick until we administered the Reversal Potion."

"Brilliant thing the Reversal Potion," Fred said, "Fixes all sorts of little things that go wrong when you drink a potion that was half-assed. Compared to how bad I was how bad do you think you got after drinking the last potion?"

"If you were a seven on our little 'sickness scale'," George pondered, "hmmm, I'd say around a three, give or take."

"So it was reduced by half then," Fred mused, "Shall we try two weeks then? It'll be perfect timing for a test for Malfoy, there's a visit to Hogsmeade in two weeks time and Malfoy will likely do something that will draw out what this potion is supposed to do."

Suddenly both twins jerked their heads toward a piece of old parchment laying out near them on the library table.

"Looks like dear Madam Pince is coming to see who's in the library at such an hour," Fred said.

"_Evanesco,"_ George muttered, waving his wand at the potion supplies lying on the table. They vanished with a sweep of his wand. Fred extinguished the low light they had set up for them and rapped himself and his twin on the head with his wand. The two disappeared as the Disillusionment Charm set in.

Grabbing the Marauders Map, the old piece of parchment they had with them, they quickly moved away from the area. It took them only twenty seconds and it was as if they had never been there.

"You know, George," Fred said, "We've gotten good enough at alert wards that the only reason we use the map is to spy on people in our spare time."

"Which has been becoming steadily shorter these past months," George finished for him, "Mainly because of the joke shop business."

"Think it's time to pass on the map to the next set of _Magical Mischief Makers_?" Fred asked as they exited the library and headed back toward Gryffindor Tower.

"Perhaps," George scratched his chin, which was difficult to see but when you were used to looking at each other under the Disillusionment Charm you could follow your companion's movements well enough, "but who do we pass it on to? Messer's Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs didn't pass it on to anyone; we found it in Filch's "Confiscated and Highly Dangerous" file in his office."

"What are our dear brother and sister doing with Harry and Hermione I wonder?" Fred pondered.

"Pardon?" George asked.

They stepped into an empty classroom and removed the charms. Looking at the map they saw that Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were all sitting in Gryffindor Common Room.

"_Narrate,_" George said, tapping the spot where the four younger students were with his wand.

----------------

"And that's what Professor Lupin's been teaching you in those extra sessions?" Ginny said.

"Yeah," Harry said, "The Patronus is pretty difficult, took me till the end of the first lesson where I tried at least four or five times to be able to produce something to cause me to not pass out. You need to think of a happy memory of sorts and while I have plenty to choose from apparently at first you need to have a really good one so that you can get the hang of the spell. After that it doesn't take nearly as happy of a memory to produce the charm."

"You think this will help in Quidditch matches?" Ron asked.

"Well if I can produce something that will keep me on my broom long enough to end the game on Gryffindor terms, gaining us those fifty extra points, yes it'll be immeasurably helpful," Harry said.

"Hermione are you almost to a stopping point?" Ginny asked, "Don't make us force you to go to bed again like we did last night. We'll do it too you know."

"Yes, I've done enough for now," Hermione said.

"Good, with you staying up so late we've got all our homework done keeping you company and get bored as you plow on you know," Ron said, "Oh, don't get flustered 'Mione! Be grateful that you're not having to drag us to the library to get things done anymore, we do it on our own thanks to you. It would be nice to have something to fill our time with though."

------------------

"George," Fred said.

"Fred," George returned.

"_Mischief Managed,"_ they said in unison pointing their wands at the map. It slowly went blank.

"I do believe…" Fred started.

"That we have…" George continued.

"A receiver," they said together, rapping each other on their heads to reinstate the Disillusionment Charm.

----------------------

"Nervous Harry?" Angelina Johnson asked him as they made their way out of the Gryffindor Locker rooms of the Quidditch Arena.

"A bit," Harry admitted. The weather had stayed relatively bad after the Christmas holidays and he hadn't gotten much time to practice with his new Firebolt, which had passed the "burn test" as Flitwick had dubbed it. It was perfectly safe and Harry had zoomed around the Quidditch Pitch at the few team practices they'd had after the season had resumed. Oliver Wood was absolutely ecstatic about Harry's new broom. It was an International Quidditch League broom after all.

Harry wasn't worried about the match with Ravenclaw, which they were walking to at that very moment, Cho Chang the Ravenclaw Seeker flew a Comet Two-Sixty which was incredibly slow compared to the Firebolt. He _was_ concerned that dementors would show up again and the conditions of the day were quite dry so it was unlikely that he'd survive by landing in the mud this time. He'd brought his wand, swearing to himself that he wouldn't use it unless dementors showed up.

The match started out with Gryffindor scoring early, ten points by Alicia Spinnet. Harry knew that the match would stay like this and concentrated on looking for the Snitch when it got released. It was tricky; he was watching the match between the Chasers, listening to the commentary by Lee Jordan, who was making promotional statements for the Firebolt on and off, and watching Cho to see if she had seen the Snitch.

"Angelina passes to Katie—STOLEN BY DAVIS—Davis passes to Givvins—Givvins shoots!—SAVED BY WOOD!—Alicia has the Quaffle back—to Angelina—to Katie—back to Angelina—she shoots, she seems to have terrible aim, where's she aiming?—KNOCKED IN BY KATIE BELL!—Gryffindor now leads 30-0!"

Scanning the field, Harry noted that the Snitch hadn't been released yet but took off at half speed toward the opposite side of the Pitch to fake out Cho. His ploy worked and soon she was flying after him as fast as her broom could go.

As the match continued (Gryffindor scores! They lead 70-20) Harry began to learn not to underestimate someone simply because they had a much slower broom. He should have known that from the match against Slytherin a year ago where the Slytherin's made their debut with their new Nimbus Two Thousand and One's and for the first half of the match were slaughtering the Gryffindor team but then Angelina, Katie, and Alicia figured out how to outplay them and began scoring more points. Cho liked cutting him off and seemed to be able to appear out of nowhere.

A glint caught his eye shortly after Katie scored Gryffindor's eleventh goal. Harry could tell that it was the Snitch, but his team needed more points to boost them for the upcoming match against Slytherin, who had flattened Hufflepuff worse than Ravenclaw had.

Quickly rocketing off in the direction the Snitch had been, but no longer was, Harry faked out Cho once again. Patiently he waited for the moment where his team was enough ahead that they would be in comfortable position for the Quidditch Cup.

That moment never arose.

Cho found the Snitch just before her team scored, brining the score to 140-60, and since Wood was too good to allow many goals and the Gryffindor Chasers were easily the best in the school, she obviously went after it. Harry caught up to her and was passing her when he heard a gasp from the crowd.

Watching the Snitch with one eye, he looked down to see a few dementors looking up at him.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ he yelled, shooting the Patronus Charm down at the dementors and reaching for the Snitch.

--------------------------

The party in Gryffindor Tower was almost like none other they had had before.

Percy, the Head Boy no less, was taking orders for Fred and George for when they disappeared off to Honeydukes, Harry had figured out where they were going by now, how they got there was still a mystery.

Hermione had abandoned doing homework, which was a miracle by this year's standards.

Harry was telling people about the Patronus Charm he'd been working on with Lupin, which the entire school had seen the product of. The dementors turned out to be Malfoy and a few other Slytherin Team players. They received detentions and fifty points were deducted apiece.

To say that the party was crazy was, well, an understatement. And by the time one o' clock in the morning rolled around it still didn't look like slowing down.

--------------------

"Fred? George? What are you doing?" Ron asked as the twins pulled him away from the party.

"What's it look like we're doing, little brother?" George asked.

"First off we're off to get treats from Honeydukes," Fred said.

"But we've also decided to do a bit of a passing of the torch," George put in.

"So to speak," Fred finished.

"Whadd'ya mean?" Ron asked, confused.

"Ron, dear brother," Fred said, pulling out an odd piece of parchment.

"We've gotten good enough at the game of Magical Mischief Making that we no longer need some of the 'cheats' that we've been using over the years," George said.

"Though that's all part of the game," Fred said, "Ready?"

"Ready for what?" Ron asked, still having no clue what his older brothers were getting at.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,_" Fred tapped the parchment with his wand.

Ron stared at the parchment as ink slowly spread from the wand tip. The Hogwarts logo appeared at the top with an inscription underneath it. Underneath the inscription was what looked like an intricate map of Hogwarts School.

"Messer's Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present," George read.

"The Marauder's Map," Fred finished.

"This, little Ron, is the secret to our success," George said, "You can see where everyone in the castle is at any moment."

"See here we are in the third floor corridor next to the statue of Norbit the Nasty," Fred said pointing to their names on the map.

"And we see Filch prowling the other side of the school with Mrs. Norris in the Great Hall," George said.

"And of course the enormous party in Gryffindor Common Room," Fred said, "and if you say '_Narrate_'," tapping the map on Gryffindor Common Room, "We can see conversations going on."

Ron stared at the map, utterly amazed at what the twins were showing him.

"And now Ron," Fred continued.

"It is yours," George said.

"What?" Ron looked at them flabbergasted.

"We no longer need it to do our deeds of mischief," George said.

"And we saw that you were looking for things to do once your homework was done," Fred said, "You appear to be surprisingly efficient at it, I'm sure Hermione is quite pleased with you this year."

"She has a bit of a crush on you by the way," George said, "Saw her talking with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil late one night when you had made her go to bed before three in the morning."

"But enough about this," Fred said, pulling Ron who was still taking in everything along, "we've got sweets to collect and hungry partygoers waiting for them."

-----------------

Hagrid sat in his chair. Buckbeak the hippogriff lay on the floor next to him, under restraint so that he wouldn't wander around the room and make the members of the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures Committee uncomfortable. He had given his defense on behalf of the hippogriff, done it quite well, he hoped anyway. Ron Weasley had found an incredible amount of sources showing that it was not Buckbeak's fault that he'd attacked the Malfoy boy.

But it seemed that, even with the testimony of almost everyone in the class and the school healer, the committee was going to rule in favor of Lucius Malfoy and sentence the innocent creature to death.

'Cocky bastard,' Hagrid thought looking in Malfoy's direction, 'Prolly knew that 'e 'ad the committee in the palm of 'is hand the entire time. Com'n in here all confident an' what. Committee prolly believes he'll curse the'r families if they don' rule in 'is favor.'

He and Malfoy rose as the committee members returned to the room, filing back into their seats.

"Rubeus Hagrid," the committee chairman began, "you stand in defense for the hippogriff "Buckbeak" who on the fifth day of September, 1993 attacked a student, named Draco Malfoy of Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is with deep regret…"

The chairman didn't need to finish his statement. Tears were forming in Hagrid's eyes. All the work he had put into becoming a teacher so many years after being expelled from Hogwarts. All the work Ron had done to try and prove Buckbeak's innocence. It was flushed down the toilet by the man holding the largest purse: Lucius Malfoy.

Buckbeak had been given the death sentence.

"…should you wish to make a repeal hearing you have until…What's going on? I thought no one was supposed to be allowed in after the door were shut!"

Hagrid turned to see Gabriel Munro walk through the doors to the court room.

"Sorry, don't mind me," he bowed to the chairman in apology, "I happened to be here on business and heard about the nature of the hearing and was curious about how it had gone."

"Fine then, take a seat," the chairman said tartly, "as I was saying, if you wish to make a repeal for the capital sentence given the said hippogriff…"

"Capital sentence?" Gabriel asked, sounding utterly shocked.

"What now!?" the chairman asked angrily.

"Your sentencing an animal to death," Gabriel stated as-a-matter-o-factly, "whatever happened must have been gruesome considering the animal in question." He gestured at Buckbeak.

"Or…" he looked pointedly at Lucius Malfoy, "the accuser is paying you a fair share of money, coupled with a few other conditions, to _overlook_ facts and reason to _murder_ an innocent being."

Reaching into his great coat (which American wizards seemed to wear more often than robes) he pulled out his wand, summoning the papers the chairman had on his podium.

"See here man!" the chairman protested, only to be shoved backwards into his chair by an invisible force, Gabriel's wand pointed at him.

"Let's see here, yeeesss," he muttered to himself, "the extent of the injury was a relatively minor wound to the left forearm after the victim insulted the creature. This is hardly Capital Punishment material, Mr. Chairman."

"I—He—," the chairman grunted, trying to sit forward but remained held in place.

"And I also see that we have quite a few eyewitness accounts, including the school healer's, that states that Professor Hagrid had stressed to not insult hippogriffs due to their vain nature," Gabriel continued, calmly speaking as if he wasn't holding the chairman, as well as the rest of the committee in their chairs.

"Mr. Munro…" Malfoy sneered coldly turning in his direction, putting his hand on his cane handle. Hagrid swallowed. He remembered from conversations with Harry that Malfoy's wand was in his cane. Gabriel would have to release the committee members to deal with Malfoy. But he, Hagrid, could stop Malfoy from attacking Gabriel. But _that_ would put a blemish on his defense and reduce Buckbeak's chances.

He was about to step between Malfoy and Gabriel when Gabriel tossed the parchments into the air, pulled a _second wand_ out of his coat, disarmed Malfoy and pushed him back into his chair, and levitated the parchments in front of his face with his second wand.

"It seems to me, Mr. Chairman," Gabriel said, leafing through the papers with his second wand, "That you aren't quite as concerned with dealing out justice as you are in not angering the upper-class. Not that anything is terribly wrong with doing that, having a happy upper-class keeps donations from them generous. But when it comes to a matter of life and death ruling in favor of the man who can pay the most money is a quick way to find yourself looking for new employment."

With another flick of his wand he "banished" the parchments back over to the chairman and released them.

"Now then, I have little sway over the outcome of this hearing, but just so you know, your employment on this committee will be under intense scrutiny after this hearing," he said, putting his wands away and sitting back down in a chair.

The committee began talking in hushed voices amongst themselves. Malfoy retrieved his wand and now sat glare coldly at anyone who looked at him.

Hagrid felt a bit awkward being the only one remaining standing. However the chairman motioned for people to stand again so the few other people in the room resumed standing with him.

-------------------

"I didn't know Gabriel could do duel-wand magic," Ron said, reading the letter from Hagrid telling them about the successful hearing. It had almost gone bad until Gabriel showed up and lazily humiliated the committee chairman and Lucius Malfoy, where the committee did a complete turnabout and cleared Buckbeak of all charges.

"Neither did I," Harry admitted, extremely thankful he'd told his adoptive father the date and time of the grievance hearing, "I wonder if Robert knew."

"Well we can find out when we get to the Hog's Head where he's staying with that Danica Mathis he wrote to you about," Ginny said.

They were in Hogsmeade village, heading to the Hog's Head. Hermione had stayed behind, claiming if she didn't she'd never get her homework done. Ginny was allowed to go only because Robert had written to Dumbledore and requested that Ginny meet Danica. Harry and Ron decided to milk Ginny's early trip for all it was worth and were giving her the grand tour of the village.

"Here we have the Shrieking Shack," Ron said, "It's presumably the most haunted house in all of Britain. Villagers don't go near it. Not even today when it's been silent for nearly fifteen years."

"_Shit. Unsavory characters at six o' clock,"_ Harry hissed to Ron softly in Parseltongue. One of the best things about speaking Parseltongue, as it turned out, was that you didn't need to speak very loudly for another person who spoke to understand you. Ginny's tour had been orchestrated by soft hisses sent between the two of them the entire time. Since Ginny couldn't hear the hissing she undoubtedly thought that this was a well planned out tour that they had done several times. To a degree, the first part was true.

"Not much else can be said about this so we shall move on quickly, we don't want to keep Rob waiting do we?" Ron said as if the thought was the most logical thing to say next.

"Oy, Weasels and Potty!" Malfoy called as he and Crabbe and Goyle swaggered up to them, "What are you doing here? Especially the female Weasel?"

"She has special permission from Dumbledore," Harry said, fingering his wand behind his back, he and Ron stepping in front of Ginny slightly.

"Right," Malfoy sneered, "Are you showing her the new house that you're buying? You Weasley's all live in one room if I remember…."

He wasn't able to finish statement as he began to contort violently, his skin turning interesting colors and grey hair growing rapidly from his body. Crabbe and Goyle stepped back in shock, gapping stupidly at their leader.

Malfoy's body continued to contort, his face elongating and his ears becoming pointy. Harry stared in confused fascination as he slowly realized, as the transformation completed, that Malfoy was turning into a donkey.

"SUCCESS!" Fred and George shouted, jumping out of nowhere, causing Malfoy's cronies to scream and run away.

"We've been working on this for months!" Fred said excitedly.

"And now it finally works!" George sobbed dramatically, pulling a handkerchief from his coat to wipe his eyes on, "A potion that personifies the inner nature of the drinker as they show their true colors. Brilliant!"

"Now then Malfoy," Fred said steering the confused animal around and putting a halter on it.

"You'll need to come with us," George said as he repaired Malfoy's shredded clothing.

"'Cause I don't think that you want to be given the Reversal Potion in broad daylight," Fred said.

"Or anyone else for that matter," George continued, "I dare say the sight of you in your birthday suit is probably not a sight most people want to see."

Harry and Ron were laughing so hard that Ginny, who was laughing pretty hard as well, had to support them.

"Always knew that Malfoy was an ass," Harry laughed.

"I guess this just confirms it!" Ginny giggled.

Malfoy did not want to be lead through the village, but with some persuasion from George, namely several Stinging Hexes to his backside, he eventually disappeared over the hill with the twins.

-------------

"So how's things been going at ye olde' Hogwarts School lately?" Robert asked.

Danica and Ginny were sitting off in a corner chatting rapidly, apparently finding a common bond quickly. Ron and Harry were sitting on a couch across from Robert.

"Well, I've been learning the Patronus Charm from Mr. Lupin," Harry said.

"Got a Firebolt from an anonymous person," Ron put in.

"Ginny's been having issues with the dementors as well," Harry said.

"I've recently been given this spiffy map by Fred and George that shows everyone in Hogwarts at any moment," Ron said, "reason behind them passing it down was because Harry and I are bored when we're staying up late keeping Hermione company as she does her homework. They encourage us to "use it to the fullest potential" probably meaning they want us to prank the Slytherin's."

"Or any of the other Houses, I'm sure," Robert said, sipping his Butterbeer, "Now what's this about Hermione and homework?"

"She went bonkers this year," Harry explained, "I don't know how she's doing it but she's _scheduled_ to take at least three classes at the same time sometimes and she's still in all the same classes as Ron and I and she hasn't missed one yet so…"

"I agree with you," Robert said, "she's gone bonkers and will even be descending into the abyss of slight insanity if this continues."

"How so?" Ron asked.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough," Robert reassured him.

"You know how she's doing it?" Ron asked him.

"I suspect," Robert said, "there aren't many other ways of doing it."

"_Rob?"_ Harry slipped into Parseltongue, not wanting Ginny to hear him, or understand him, _"I've been feeling weird things when I'm around Ginny, you know what I'm talking about Ron, and I've been hoping you could tell me what it's all about."_

"_What sort of things, little brother?"_ Robert leaned forward with a look of _great_ _interest_ in his eye.

"_Well, uh, she and I were in the Hospital Wing together and there was nobody around and she was crying so I hugged her and that eventually led to her sleeping in the bed with me, the chocolate we were given had a sleeping potion in it so we fell asleep quickly, and it…well…it just sort of felt right, you know, to be holding her like that, and…" _Harry trailed off talking about how he'd been feeling around Ginny lately, asking Robert if this was something normal to be experiencing these things. Especially to the younger sister of your best mate.

"_Well, Ron, how are you taking to this?"_ Robert asked, looking quite amused by the conversation.

"_I've known for a while, even with the bit about sleeping in the Hospital Wing, Ginny blushingly told Hermione about that who in turn told me,"_ Ron hissed, _"I've told Harry to watch out for my brother Bill as he's a little protective of little Ginny."_

"What are you boys hissing about?" Danica asked, walking over to Robert, mock glaring down at him with her arms crossed. Harry had to admit that the "Heir of Slytherin" (it had been confirmed, she'd gone into the Chamber and talked with the Basilisk who recognized her as the true Heir) was rather attractive. And she was also the girl that Lupin had hinted Robert having some "romantic inclinations" toward, so things were getting rather interesting.

"Well Harry brought up certain things about stuff and I was about to launch into the duty of the elder brother to give him the "sex talk", as it were, though I may have a bit of difficulties with that since I've never had a girlfriend before," Robert said mildly looking up at the slightly younger woman.

"'Never had a girlfriend before'," Danica parroted with a quirk of her eyebrow, "What, pray tell, would you call me then?"

"An acquaintance," Robert raised his eyebrows back at her.

"Really?" Danica asked, a little smile coming to her face, "Do "acquaintances" do this?" She reached down and grabbed hold of Robert's face.

"None of that now," Robert jumped over the couch, "this is a "G" rated show after all, we can't do anything to scare the kiddies."

"Get back here!" Danica shouted going after Robert, "If you're going to give a proper sex talk you need to know what you're doing!"

"Sex talk?" Harry asked Ron.

"Fred and George gave it to me the other day when they gave me the map," Ron whispered to him, "I'm not sure what it was about I was a little shocked at getting something like that from them."

"You see, Harry, when a man and a women love each other..." Robert began, walking quickly around the couches to avoid Danica who was following him closely.

The talk continued, during which Harry, and Ginny, steadily grew redder and redder, and Robert was chased by Danica all over the room, except for the brief period of time that he'd made his voice come from a Butterbeer bottle on the table as he hid in a small box that nobody saw him get into (apparently one of the major qualifications to become an Auror was the ability to fit into tight spaces, the one Robert fit into was about one and a half cubic feet in volume).

"And that is the basics of human peer bonding," Robert said as he and Danica somehow managed to crawl their way across the _ceiling_, "tune in next week for the science behind a blow job."

"You realize that you're probably going to Hell for talking about that in the presence of a twelve year old witch?" Danica asked as she chased him across several pieces of furniture.

"At the end of Auror Training School we are told that our tickets to Hell have already been purchased and rocket powered sleds await our arrival," Robert called back to her as they ran in circles around the couches, "Everything that I/we do after becoming an Auror simply adds another rocket to the sled to get us to our inevitable destination in less time."

"Oh, just give up and let me kiss you already!" Danica half-giggled, half-groaned, "We've already done enough damage to the kiddies that a simple snog isn't going to corrupt their minds! And you know you can't outrun me forever, don't you?"

"_Never underestimate the speed of a coward in flight!"_ shouted Robert making a break for the door to the room.

SLAM

"And _you_ should never underestimate the speed of a witch on her broom," Danica grinned as she pinned Robert to the door, her Cleansweep 4 in her left hand.

"Has anyone told you you've handled learning that you're Voldemort's daughter extremely well?" Robert groaned as she dragged him back to the couches.

"Not much about my life has changed, other than I know who the bastard who raped my mother was now," Danica said with a shrug, "and I have an excuse to keep you around me. If I wasn't Voldimort's daughter you'd probably be off on different assignments away from me and we'd never be able to pursue each other farther than, as you said, "acquaintances"."

"She's handling this far too well, if you ask me," Robert pointed at Danica as they sat back down. Danica just smirked and latched her mouth onto his, giving him a passionate kiss.

"Did you have to do that in front of us?" asked Ron, Harry, and Ginny all at the same time.

----------------------

Hermione was in a panic. She _had_ something else she _needed_ to get done. She _knew_ she had something else to do! By Merlin where was her DADA book?! The essay on banshee's that was due soon. Shit! She had Cheering Charms to practice as well.

"I'll do that after I solve this rune," she muttered to herself, scribbling furiously on the piece of parchment about the various symbols on the rune in question. Wait? She'd already finished her Ancient Runes homework hadn't she? She quickly sifted through her pile of work and, to her shock, found that she had done this particular piece of homework no less than three times already.

"_Tergeo,_" she muttered at the parchment she had been working on, siphoning the ink from it and putting it back into the bottle she had next to her. That spell had been quite useful lately as she'd found that she'd been doing several assignments multiple times as she hurriedly tried to complete everything she needed to do.

Glancing at the clock, Hermione swore under her breath again, a nasty habit she'd picked up from Ron lately. Ron…she liked him. She didn't know why but she did. It was one of those things that, like Professor Trelawney had said, couldn't be explained in a book.

'No, I can't be thinking about him right now!' Hermione berated herself mentally, 'I have so much I have to get done and I don't have the time to do it in! Four more hours today, that's all I need.'

Gathering her things she went up to her dormitory and pulled out the Time Turner. A few quick turns and she felt everything spinning around her, a sensation that had become quite familiar over the past term. When it stopped she was four hours in the past.

Quickly gathering her materials she headed for the library, carefully making sure that she wasn't seen by anyone who didn't know where she _also_ was in the Gryffindor Common Room. She had to avoid getting seen by herself as well. Hell, even looking at herself made her feel dizzy.

Spreading her books out on a library table, Hermione quickly set back to work, this time on the banshee essay. She knew that she'd probably do a good job on it and out score most everyone else, except Harry perhaps he was the top student in DADA, helped that his older brother and father were two of the best Auror's in the world. His father actually was arguably _the best_ Auror in the world at this time.

Damn! That reminded her! She had an essay in History of Magic over a wizard called "Graham Gandalf" who apparently was currently the American Minister of Magic. Quickly finishing the banshee essay she found her books talking about the American wizard and set down to that.

Apparently he'd been colleagues with Dumbledore at one time, befriending Dumbledore after his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindlewald in 1945. Another prominent figure in the magical world, Gandalf was the originator of duel-wand magic techniques, and had been a teacher at Auror Training Schools all over the world. Apparently Gabriel Munro was a protégé of his.

'Amazing,' Hermione thought as she began writing her conclusion, 'Harry has all these contacts that he could use to become a great wizard and the only reason why he has all of them is because he got adopted into a family of highly trained Aurors.'

Though when she thought about it the only reason why he was in that family was because his relatives were highly prejudice against witches and wizards, his aunt hating his mother, her sister, because she wasn't "normal". For his own protection, he'd been removed from that house and placed in the protection of Gabriel and Robert, who wasn't really able to protect Harry for a couple more years yet as he hadn't finished school at the time of Harry's adoption.

All of which never would have happened if You-Know-Who hadn't killed his parents.

"You really need to start focusing better," Hermione whispered to herself as she hurried back to the Common Room after she was done.

"Flibbertigibit," she said in a tired voice to the Fat Lady.

"You don't look well, dear," the portrait said, "Have you been sleeping well?"

"I think I have," Hermione said, "But then again I've been having thirty hour days for several weeks now trying to get all my homework done."

"That's not good, dear," the painting said as she opened up to let Hermione in.

"I think I agree with you," Hermione whispered.

Stepping into the Common Room Hermione instantly began feeling dizzy. She had just walked in on herself getting up to go up to the dorm. Her past self wouldn't notice her, she knew that she would be so wrapped up in the volume of homework she had to do that she wouldn't see herself if she was shouting her name at the top of her lungs.

But her past self didn't have to look at her. Just looking at herself, and not in a mirror, she realized just how awful she looked. The bags around her eyes gave her a look akin to a raccoon. She looked so thin and frail, like she hadn't been eating well. She hadn't been she'd been skipping meals lately when Harry, Ron, and Ginny weren't around to drag her away from her work.

The mere sight of herself, as she watched herself walk up the stairs to her dorm made her collapse. She had almost created a rift in time: Two selves existing in almost the same place at the same time. Time travel with the Time Turner was done a fair amount under strict Ministry supervision for this very reason. Hermione's vision began blurring and she started hyperventilating.

The last thing she heard as she blacked out completely sounded an awful lot like Ron's older brother Percy's voice shouting her name in alarm.

* * *

_I was originally planning to make this the final chapter dedicated to the third book but then it started getting really long. So I split the work up into two chapters, the next one should be coming out as soon as I finish it. Probably soon knowing me and my work ethic._

_I know, I've changed some things from the original story. Harry was supposed to get the Map, not Ron, and Ron and Harry aren't supposed to be really good at magic. I realize that there is only so much that can be said in a 600 page book but I found it a little...convenient...that in the seventh book Harry and Ron knew all these spells, alright, Hermione knew more, but Ron and Harry had always been "average students" for the most part at Hogwarts and now they're in the real world and amazingly they can do shit._

_I think I should become a book critiquer or something like that. After awhile of reading a series or a book I start to sit down and think about how things in the story went and, like in several book series, Harry Potter has a large number of minor details that don't really add up. Like Sirius was convicted without a trial, which was the main reason why he was convicted. But wouldn't some people, like Dumbledore, have thought "no, we can't do that" and have talked people into giving him a trial where they could have used Ligilimens or a Truth Potion to get the information that he wasn't actually the Secret Keeper out of him _and _they would know that it was true because of the form of magic they used to extract the information with._

_Now I realize that this is fiction and in fiction to make a good story little details don't always add up. It still irks me a bit though sometimes._

_Anyway, enough author's notes. Please review and please, please, PLEASE, give me your prank ideas._


	11. Prisoner of Azkaban part V

Alrighty. Thank you keeperoliver and benperez31 for the consistent reviews and prank ideas. The rest of you need to step up and give me some more feedback. Please? Pretty Please? Anyone out there?

Anyway, this is the end of book three. I'll move on to book four eventually. I don't know when that will be as I have a fair amount of other things that I should be doing. Read, review, and enjoy.

Thank you.

* * *

"Is she alright?" Dumbledore asked Madam Pomfrey, looking down at Hermione Granger as she lay in a bed in the Hospital Wing.

"I don't know," Poppy said, bustling about, "I can treat her malnutrition and extreme exhaustion just fine but what made her collapse doesn't seem to be related to either. I can't treat that until I know what happened and even then _I_ may not be able to treat it. I'm not a Ligilimen you know."

"Albus," Minerva McGonagall called as she swept into the room, "I'm afraid this is probably my fault. I never should have let her take that many classes. Especially since she is so young."

"Ah," Dumbledore smiled, "This is about the Time Turner then. I think I know what her problem is. Give me a moment."

He pulled out his wand, placing the tip on his young student's forehead. Yes, the problem was what he had thought it was. She had been in close proximity to her past self, though the two selves hadn't made contact with each other. This made the problem a little easier to deal with.

"Call Severus up here," he asked Madam Pomfrey, "It's best to have two Ligilimen's do a mind healing."

Poppy hurried off to fetch Severus. "What's the matter?" Minerva asked, "How bad is she?"

"She only had a glimpse of her past self while in close proximity to herself," Dumbledore said, removing his wand, "If that makes any sense at all. Time travel is far more complicated than one originally thinks most of the time and the end result is typically worse off than before the meddling with time."

Minerva sat down on an empty bed. "Thank goodness," she breathed, "And thank Merlin she's still young. If she were our age she would be in a far worse state. I was so worried when Percy Weasley came and told me what had happened."

"Yes, youth," Dumbledore chuckled, "The young mind has an extraordinary coping ability. That's why muggle military organizations recruit young adults. Not only do they have the tendency to believe they are invulnerable but they handle the stress of battle and the loss of their fellow soldiers far better than the old."

"Why are you treating this so lightly?!" Minerva demanded, "She could have had serious mental damage from her encounter with her other self! She could be lying in bed for the rest of her life, never to wake up again!"

"Yes, my dear professor," Dumbledore smiled at the distraught woman, "She _could have been_. But it didn't happen. That's what you need to think. And when you get to my age you will realize that if you do not treat everything with an element of non-seriousness you will be a very bitter person."

"You called for me Headmaster?" Severus asked, sweeping into the Hospital Wing.

"Yes I did," Dumbledore said, "We have some work to do." He gestured at Hermione. Severus nodded, understanding.

The work to clear up the damage in the young girls mind was easy enough. Either he or Severus could have done it alone, but it was always best to have two people working mind magic. That way if something went wrong there was someone to catch the fall. For especially tedious mind magic three if not four Ligilimens were required due to the complexity of the work involved and the repercussions of something not being done correctly.

Severus got up to leave quickly after their work was completed, but then again Dumbledore hadn't expected him to linger. He was stopped, however, as Gabriel came into the Hospital Wing, Remus following him.

"Robert has recently told me that Ron Weasley was given a map of the school grounds by his older brothers," Gabriel said, "The Marauder's Map to be precise. Remus told me about the map he and his friends created back in school. It shows everyone and we mean _everyone_ on the school grounds at any given moment. We believe that Sirius Black is loitering around the school. We can use this map to track him down."

"Good Lord," Remus gasped, "What happened to Miss Granger?"

"She had a mishap with her Time Turner," Dumbledore said simply, "Needless to say I expect she will be done with the term, even if it is several months until the end of the year. The stress she's been under is far more than she should have to endure at this stage of her life."

"This will make the second year in a row that she's been exempt from Finals," Minerva said, "I think we need to stress it to her that she'd best try to not make this a habit."

"But what shall we do with Black when we apprehend him?" Severus asked, "I for one don't think that it is wise to hold a criminal on school grounds. Especially one that…"

"Severus I'd shut up if I were you," Gabriel turned to the man giving him a cold glare that sent the professor back a step, "I've gone over all the information concerning his arrest and imprisonment and when anyone catches Black if he is mistreated in any way they will have _me_ coming down on them full force! Everything about his so called "conviction" reeks of "cover up" or "convenient scapegoat". We all say that he was the Potter's Secret Keeper, but in actuality _no one really knows_. That's the whole point of the Secret Keeper: they keep the secret location so that anyone who hasn't been told directly by him or her literally can't find it and nobody knows who the Secret Keeper is other than the people who have been told the secret. And _they_ cannot disclose who the Secret Keeper is to someone who hasn't been told the secret either."

"As for the "murder of Peter Pettigrew"? There is no evidence. At all. Nothing. Now I believe in the judicial system the saying is "Innocent until proven Guilty" is it not? There's nothing to prove him Guilty so we _must_ assume that he is Innocent. The _only reason_ why he was in Azkaban _in the first place_ was because Mr. Bartomous Crouch gave an executive order that sent him _straight there_."

"Let us ask Mr. Weasley to lend us the map as soon as we have things sorted out with what will happen once we find Black," Dumbledore said, calmly, "Until then, I believe there is one more Quidditch match to be played. One between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The winner of the match will likely win the Quidditch Cup."

Thankfully that broke the icy mood between the former Death Eater and the Auror and the men left the Hospital Wing, leaving Madam Pomfrey tittering about heated arguments disturbing the patients.

-----------------

It was the dirtiest match he'd ever played, Harry decided. Fred had actually hit one of the Slytherins over the head with his Beaters club. The Slytherin Chasers used any measure they could think of, legal or not, to regain the Quaffle. Half the points of the match (100-80 in Gryffindor's favor) had been scored by penalty shots. Mostly Gryffindor penalty shots as the Slytherin Chasers fouled the Chaser with the Quaffle before she (all the Gryffindor Chasers were female after all) got halfway down the Pitch.

There was a whistle blown and Harry flew down to the Gryffindor huddle for the Time Out.

"Angelina is there anything that the Chasers can do to outmaneuver these guys?" Wood asked. He looked exhausted and he should very well be. The Slytherin's had taken thirty shots on the Gryffindor hoops already. The Gryffindor Chasers hadn't taken nearly as many shots, only fourteen of fifteen, which proved how good they were considering their shot-to-score ratio was far higher.

"Is there a rule that permits only the Chasers and the Keeper to handle the Quaffle?" Harry asked, an idea forming in his head.

"No," Angelina said, "the only rule like that is that only the Seeker can end the match by catching the Snitch. And that's ensured by the fact that the Seeker is the only player who has fingerless gloves. The Snitch has a charm on it to tell officials who was the first person to touch it, that way if there is a dispute over who caught the Snitch it can be resolved."

"How many points do we need to gain over Slytherin in this match?" Harry asked.

"We need ninety," Alicia told him.

"Wait," Wood said, "Are you thinking about what I think you're thinking about?"

"Depends," Harry said, "What do you think I'm thinking about?"

"You can out fly any broom on the field so you get given the Quaffle, race down field, hand it off to someone who then scores," Wood said, "Am I right?"

"Pretty much," Harry said.

"It's dangerous," Katie said, "The Snitch hasn't been seen yet but if it's released while we're racking up points and Malfoy catches it we still lose the Cup."

"All I need to do is get us twenty more points on the board," Harry said, "after that I can go back to my Seeker position."

"We'll distract Malfoy," George said, referring to his twin and himself.

"Let's do it then," Wood said.

Taking to the air again, the players positioned themselves across from their opposing team, waiting for Madam Hooch to throw the Quaffle again.

It was up. Angelina grabbed it and dived out of the way of the Slytherin Chasers, abruptly pulling back up again to avoid them a second time. Harry flew into her field of view and she threw the ball at him.

He caught it.

In a crimson blur he streaked across the field to where Alicia had flown the moment Angelina caught the Quaffle. Not only were the Slytherin's Nimbus Two Thousand and One's slower than his Firebolt but they never expected a move like this to be played. Tossing the Quaffle to Alicia, she had a practically wide open shot as no other player but the Slytherin Keeper and Harry were on that side of the field.

She scored easily.

The Slytherin crowd was booing like mad, and grew louder when Madam Hooch announced over the magical microphone that Lee Jordan commentated on that there was no rule against the Seeker handling the Quaffle.

The score was now 110 to 80.

The Quaffle was now back in Slytherin possession and with the knowledge that Harry could handle the Quaffle they were likely to take measures to not only not lose the Quaffle but to take out Harry.

Fred and George, mainly George, were making quite sure that Malfoy wasn't looking for the Snitch as he frantically tried to run away from a bludger that, though it wasn't tampered with to only aim for him, was constantly being aimed in his direction. The Slytherin idea that the fastest team won was fading quickly as George on his Cleansweep 7 was managing to keep up relatively well with Malfoy's Nimbus 2001.

Focusing back on the task of getting the Quaffle, Angelina managed to knock it out of Marcus Flint's hands in a near illegal collision, resulting in many boo's from the Slytherin's and overpowering cheers from everyone else, and Katie managed to get a hold of it. Quickly handing it off to Harry, she raced back down the field. This time, however, the half the Slytherin's followed the Gryffindor Chasers down the field and Harry was left to avoid the opposing Beaters and Flint as he held possession of the Quaffle.

Being a Seeker, the most agile player on the team, and being used to avoiding many nasty fouls, mainly because he was the Seeker, Harry avoided the opposing team quite well. Still, they kept him on Gryffindor's side of the Pitch. Knowing that this was only a move to get them enough points on the board that he could catch the Snitch and they'd win, Harry knew he had to get the Quaffle onto the other side to the Chasers. But he also needed to be sure that Katie, Alicia, or Angelina would get the Quaffle.

"Harry!" he heard Fred shout.

Turning to look at Fred he saw Fred flying toward him, Beaters bat raised. Chucking the Quaffle at Fred as hard as he could, Harry turned and pelted down field as fast as the Firebolt could take him.

CRACK

The Quaffle, which if Harry did the math correctly, had probably been thrown to Fred at a speed of twenty miles an hour, by Harry's arm, while Harry was moving toward Fred at about sixty, combining to total eighty miles an hour. Fred, traveling at a slightly slower speed of maybe fifty, hit the Quaffle with the bat, hitting it down the Pitch at a total speed of…one hundred thirty miles an hour, maybe more. The only broom in the game able to match that speed was Harry's Firebolt.

Angelina caught the ball, which slowed down due to wind resistance, over her shoulder and flew toward the Slytherin Goals as fast as she could. Harry and the other Gryffindor Chasers scattered the Slytherin Chasers as Angelina shot the Quaffle about as point blank to the goal as was legal for her to do.

She scored. Gryffindor 120. Slytherin 80.

Harry now had to hope that the Snitch was spotted soon so that he didn't have to repeat the performance he had just done. Flying higher into the air above the rest of the players he took his "proper" position and George left Malfoy alone. For the most part anyway.

"Enjoy your time as a Chaser Potter?" Malfoy spat as they circled the field, the players below them continuing the game as usual.

"I'm surprised your team didn't think of it first Malfoy," Harry responded.

Both boys suddenly saw a flash of gold high up in the air above their heads. The Snitch! Bolting up at it they suddenly took a nose dive as it shot past them and plummeted toward the field. Both boys strained against the G-forces exerted on them as the tiny golden ball with wings zoomed around the Quidditch Pitch.

Entering the Pitch, Harry and Malfoy followed the Snitch as it flew low to the ground. The frosted over, cold ground.

'Shit!' Harry thought, registering the mass of black clocked figures ahead of him, 'Dementors again! Dumbledore is going to have an aneurism.'

He was still allowed to carry his wand during games should the dementors show up again and as he pulled it out of his robes he saw several Patronus's being fired from the stands by the teachers. Unfortunately none of the charms were reaching him and Malfoy as they speed after the Snitch which was still flying directly at the dementors.

'A happy memory,' Harry thought desperately, 'A happy memory. Think! We need a good one!'

The first time he rode a broom. No, he'd already used that one and it didn't work on a boggart.

When he left the Dursleys. No, that probably wasn't happy enough.

Robert and he pulling pranks on Gabriel. Still not happy enough, most likely.

Damn it! If he didn't catch the Snitch (he was pulling ahead of Malfoy and getting closer to the Snitch and dementors) because of the damn dementors they'd lose the match! If they lost the match, Ginny would feel miserable after the affects of the dementors wore off…

Ginny's laughter.

"_EXPECTO PATRONAM!"_ Harry roared.

A blinding silver flash shot out of his wand and a rather distinct shape hurtled at the cloaked figures scattering them as Harry and Malfoy raced after the Snitch. Malfoy had caught up since Harry was concentrating on holding the dementors back. Suddenly another Patronus joined Harry's and the gap in the dementors widened allowing both boys to urge their brooms after the Snitch even faster. Harry dropped his Patronus pulling all his concentration into chasing the little golden ball.

It was just beyond the reach of his and Malfoy's fingertips. Both boys gave a lung and went sprawling as they fell off their brooms, both of which came to a stop as their riders left them. Harry and Malfoy rolled to a stop, panting heavily.

"Good match, Potter," Malfoy groaned as he sat up. Madam Hooch descended on them along with teachers and spectators. Patronus's still ran around driving the dementors away.

"Good match, Malfoy," Harry returned, smiling at the little golden ball he held in his hand. This was most definitely the most epic Quidditch Match he'd played yet and might very well be the most epic he'd ever play.

Gryffindor won 130 to 90. With the extra fifty tournament points Harry won for Gryffindor by catching the Snitch, it meant that Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup for the first time since Charlie Weasley had played Seeker.

--------------------

"Severus what are you looking at?" Remus asked.

Severus was staring at a picture in his hand. Tears were forming in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Lily," he said quietly, tears beginning to run down his cheeks, "I'm sorry for everything. I'll look after the boy. Me. Moony. Gabriel. Robert." he paused for a moment as if preparing himself, "and Padfoot. He'll be safe. I swear to you."

Remus looked over Severus's shoulder. The picture in his hand was of Lily Potter back when she was still Lily Evans. She was smiling at Severus for the first time since their seventh year at Hogwarts.

"That was your Patronus of a doe running next to Harry's stag Patronus wasn't it?" Remus asked.

"It was," Severus told him, "Lily ran beside James again. One last time. Lily was never an Animagus like James was, I'm sure, but her Patronus was a doe, like James' Patronus was an image of himself in Animagus form. Arrogant, perhaps, but it was who he was. I believe Minerva's Patronus is a cat so I don't think it should surprise me though."

"Why do you think that Harry's Patronus was a stag?" Remus pondered.

"He's James' son," Severus responded, wiping a tear from his eye, "as much as I hated the man when we were younger it doesn't give me the right to place my old grudges onto the boy who has no knowledge of our old feud. And he's Lily's son as well." He grew quiet again.

"I think that the boy that I knew at Hogwarts as "Snivelus" has finally grown up," Remus said softly, but was still heard over the roars of the crowd, "A bit longer than it took James and Sirius to, I might add, but it has happened."

"When did they grow up?" Severus asked tiredly.

"James grew up when he rescued you from being mauled by me near the end of our sixth year," Remus said, "Suddenly realized just how much damage his "little jokes and pranks" could do to someone. Sirius took a bit longer but James eventually beat the idea into his head over the course of their seventh year. It was the main reason why Lily took a liking to James and started dating him."

-------------------

"So have you three been keeping up without me?" Hermione asked, sitting up in the hospital bed. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were sitting around her. Life after the Quidditch Final had grown a bit dull and most of what the students amused themselves with was the stories of how Dumbledore made the Minister of Magic himself quiver in his shoes as he demanded that the dementors be removed from the school grounds at once. Even as Cornelius Fudge protested that Sirius Black might still be around Dumbledore raged about how the teachers and the "resident Aurors", as Gabriel and Robert were being referred to as since they were staying in Hogsmeade for the time being, were more than enough to protect the students from the so called "deranged madman". The dementors were rounded up and sent back to Azkaban within a day.

"Perfectly well, Mione," Ron said, "We've been keeping up "without you" for most of this year since _we've_ been the ones that have been looking out for you in the library and common room and there's not much else you can do sometimes but get you work done so…" he trailed of leaving the thought hanging.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I suppose so," she admitted though, "And I guess you were right at the beginning of the year when you said I was taking on more than was physically possible. McGonagall has forced me to drop Muggle Studies and told me I had to drop one more class as well. Trelawney came in at that exact moment and suggested that I drop her class considering it was a "bunch of hogwash" and I had more important things to do instead of gazing into a misty globe or a person's hand or trying to interpret what the smudges on the bottom of a teacup meant."

"I'm going to miss taking that class," Harry said, "She's already given her final exam and only a few people like Parvati and Lavender are going to be continuing the class regularly next year."

"Said everyone is welcome to come up and sit in during a free period if they want to though," Ron said, "She's nutty you know. Day of the final she went into a weird trance saying that the servant of the Dark Lord would break from his bondage and rejoin his Master soon. She broke out of it and told everyone that they were done with the final and she'd send out an announcement for whom she recommended to continue regular classes with her."

"Also took me aside and blatantly told me that if I registered for her class next year she'd fail me automatically," Harry said, "Said I'd have far more important things to be doing. She left the classroom with me and headed straight for Dumbledore's office after that."

"I think I'll be taking that class next year," Ginny said, "It sounds funny."

"It is," Ron said.

"I wonder what else I should take next year," Ginny wondered, "Care for Magical Creatures with Hagrid sounds fun, but so does Arithmancy. Wait…Why's Crookshanks chasing…Peter Pettigrew? Isn't he dead? And Sirius Black is right behind them!"

The three older students bent over the map which Ginny had been looking at. Sure enough Sirius Black was chasing Crookshanks who was chasing Peter Pettigrew out on the castle grounds a ways away from Hagrid's cabin.

"Show this to Dumbledore! Quick!" Hermione urged, and Harry and Ron lifted Ginny out of her seat and ran, carrying her, all the way to Dumbledore's office.

"What's the password?" Ron asked, "It's probably something to do with candy."

"Do you have any idea who little that narrows it down?" Harry asked, "It could be Acid Pops, Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, Cockroach Cluster, Crunchy Frog…"

The gargoyle sprang to life and revealed the moving staircase behind it up to the headmasters office.

"Crunch Frog?" Ron raised his eyebrow as they hurried up the stairs with the map.

"It was a fictitious candy made up by that muggle comedy group Robert and Gabriel like to watch so much," Harry said.

"Ah, what can I do for you?" Dumbledore asked, opening the door before they reached it, allowing them in.

They showed him the map.

"Down the stairs! Quickly!" he ordered pulling a mirror out of his cloak, "Gabriel! Severus! Sirius Black is on the grounds and he's _chasing Pettigrew!_"

Harry had to carry Ginny on his back as Dumbledore was walking so fast. He and Ron were running as they tried to keep up. Part way through the school Lupin and Snape came rushing to join them with McGonagall bustling along behind them.

"Where are they?" Lupin asked, grabbing the map from Ginny.

"What are you doing? How do you know that's…?" Ginny asked but was cut off by Gabriel as he swooped down on a broom.

"That doesn't matter at the moment!" he yelled as the teachers were now sprinting after Lupin as he ran as fast as he could. Eventually the sight of a man wearing incredibly thin and dirty robes running around in circles, falling down trying to grab something on the ground, was able to be seen.

"Sirius!" Lupin yelled.

The man jerked his head in the direction of the sound and began to back pedal away from the advancing teachers, turning to sprint away as they drew closer.

"Sirius, no it's alright!" Lupin shouted, "We have the Map! Where's Peter?"

The man, Sirius Black, looked back at the teachers who now had stopped and some of them were catching their breath, spotting the piece of parchment in Lupin's hand. The relief on his face was so evident Harry swore that he would have been able to see it fifty meters away.

"Find the cat!" Sirius croaked, "He's chasing Peter in his Animagi form!"

"Let me see that!" Gabriel took the map from Lupin, drawing his wand. Holding his wand out, he slowly turned around as if he were following something, looking around every once in a while like he was making sure he was facing the right direction.

Suddenly he threw his arm forward and a beam of white light shot out of the tip of his wand, making contact with something on the ground just in front of a bushy tail that must have belonged to Crookshanks.

With another flick of his wand, the beam "retracted" back into the wand and he caught…Scabbers?...in his hand.

"Scabbers?" Ron said, "So this is where you've been! But what's he got anything to do with Peter Pettigrew."

McGonagall who'd been watching the entire ordeal and looking at Sirius and Remus with a scrutinizing eye suddenly pushed her way forward.

"Allow me," she said, "_Homorphus._"

Scabbers suddenly jumped from Gabriel's hand. Growing rapidly, his body morphed into that of a man who looked like he'd once been a well rounded and had lost a considerable amount of weight. He landed on the ground, shivering, frantically looking around as if everything was about to suddenly attack him.

"Am I correct in thinking," McGonagall began, glaring at Lupin and Sirius, "that three of my students about fifteen years ago became illegal Animagi, _unsupervised_, so that they could run around with their friend on the full moon to create this map of Hogwarts." She grabbed the Marauders Map from Gabriel's hands, shaking it in Remus's face.

"Yes, Deputy Headmistress," Lupin confessed, "but it's not like you can punish us now for it. And it came in rather handy if you ask me." He looked down at Peter who still lay shivering on the ground.

"We cannot dwell on the past!" Dumbledore implored, "Severus!"

He and Snape bent down touching their wands to Peter's forehead.

"The damage is far more than any two Ligilimens can handle," Snape said, "We'd need at minimum two more."

"Hello Graham old buddy," Gabriel said into a small mirror, "We need some highly trained mind healers asap if you don't mind. Send them directly to Hogwarts Hospital Wing."

"Can someone tell us what's going on?" Harry asked, looking at Ron and Ginny seeing equally confused looks on their faces.

"Well, kids," Gabriel said, "It all started long ago back when Harry's parents were in school…"

-----------------------

Peter Pettigrew had a headache. But that was odd, since he was dead. He had spent the last several years in what must have been purgatory, he'd been trapped in his rat form and lived as a family pet for a family of red headed witches and wizards, mostly wizards. He liked the two that looked alike; they reminded him of James and Sirius, only less bully-like.

The boy who "owned" him, Ron, yes that was his name, he was a friend of a boy that looked a lot like James had looked. It had definitely been a punishment for being weak and not quick enough to save the Potters. His torment had taken an interesting turn though when on a "family vacation" a wizard had hit him with an odd spell in an interesting looking tomb. His jumbled thoughts that never managed to go anywhere or hold anything useful suddenly went haywire, or it seemed like they had gone haywire anyway.

When you know you're dead thoughts like "you know that Voldemort probably didn't kill you with that curse because he didn't have the proper mindset" or "if you tried to change out of this form everything would become clear" definitely don't make much sense. Especially when you actually try to change back and you just go completely nuts. He'd tried that several times, most times when he finally calmed down he had no idea where he was but he certainly wasn't in the relative safety of the place that seemed an awful lot like Hogwarts.

Peter sighed and opened his eyes. After which he promptly sat bolt upright in the bed he was in, which gave him a worse headache. He was lying in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, _in human form_, and turning to the left he saw that the brainy girl who reminded a lot like Lily, excessively a studious, lay in the bed next to him.

"You're awake, Wormtail," a voice said next to him. Turning, slowly this time, Peter saw the old Headmaster Dumbledore sitting in a chair next to his bed.

"What's going on?" Peter asked, taking the goblet from the older man, drinking it mindlessly. His headache cleared immediately.

"You've been reawakened after about twelve years of living as a rat," Dumbledore said, "Literally too. We've been through your mind and memories, Gabriel Munro is having a field day down at the Ministry right now. It seems that your memories of being the Potters Secret Keeper, being tortured by Voldemort until he eventually ripped the Secret from your mind, and then you and Padfoot going to face off Voldemort with James was enough to prove that an innocent man had spent twelve years in Hell and that happened because nobody had the audacity to look into his case farther than face value. Those who did, might I add, were quickly shunted away from it and given laborious tasks that kept them from coming back to the case."

"Gabriel Munro…" Peter mused, gears figuratively turning in his head. A "light bulb" came on after a moment. "Oh, Gabriel Munro, the man who taught Sirius and James and who was fighting diligently to get a position for Remus as an Auror. I remember him now…"

"What are you going to do now? You don't have to answer that unless you're ready, but if you are…" Dumbledore asked.

"What?" Peter said.

"You've been found after twelve years missing," Dumbledore said, "Your friend has been cleared of all charges and been given the Order of Merlin Third Class as an "apology". You yourself have been given the Order of Merlin Second Class. I dare say that Severus is a little jealous but he's managed to get over it."

"Snivelus?" Peter asked, "What's he got to do with anything? Wait…hold on…he's a teacher at Hogwarts now isn't he…Potions Master? Headmaster what were you thinking on that one, the only reason why he was good at potions was because he looked off of Lily during class. If you gave him a position at all why didn't you give him Defense Against the Dark Arts where he had a bit of competency? I guess I shouldn't be criticizing seeing as I was a rather average student for the most part…"

"I didn't give him the position he wanted as a bit of punishment," Dumbledore said mildly, "He was the person who gave Voldemort the Prophecy, did you know?"

"And you gave him a job?!" Peter asked.

"It was a combination of wanting to keep an eye on him, teach him a lesson, and give him some healing," Dumbledore said, "It's worked rather well. He and Sirius still don't get along very well, but they've managed to move past their old schoolboy grudges against each other and coexist if you will."

The men grew quiet as they sat, or lay in bed, slipping into their own thoughts. Peter could hardly believe that he was still alive. Then again he'd read about stranger things in books. What was he going to do though? James was dead and that was a hole in the gang that would never be replaced. He could always go back to the Misuse of Magic Department where he'd worked before James' and Lily's death.

"I should warn you that Voldemort may be on the rise again," Dumbledore said, "I never believed that he was killed by when his curse rebounded off Harry as an infant. He was actually here at the school a few years ago, Harry defeated him again. And Sibyll Trelawney has told me that she gave a second real prediction saying that the Dark Lord would rise to power again soon. Thankfully Harry lives with Gabriel and his son Robert, he's an Auror as well did you know? Quite talented too. And with Sirius back as an Auror and they've finally gotten a loophole around the act that restricts the employment of werewolves to allow Remus to become an Auror…"

"Voldemort is coming back!" Peter sat up quickly again, thankful of the potion he'd drunk earlier now.

"It's quite possible," Dumbledore said calmly.

"I can't let James and Lily down again," Peter vowed, "I'm going to have Sirius train me. I'm transferring to the Auror Department or at least the Magical Law Enforcement. I'll be far more useful against Voldemort there than in Misuse of Magic."

Dumbledore nodded, smiling.

----------------------

"So in a nutshell this year was organized chaos," Robert said to Harry as they rode the Hogwarts Express back to London. Ron was playing Hermione in chess. Ginny was talking with Danica about the Sword of Gryffindor the Basilisk gave her last year, which Danica was quite interested in. Harry had spent most of the ride back filling Robert in on what had happened and Robert told Harry about his assignment, to the extent that he was allowed to talk about it at least.

"I still don't know how you get on this train," Harry said, watching Hermione frantically looking for a move that would allow her to stay on par with Ron. Ron looked like he was having the time of his life, being better than Hermione at something. He was winning by quite a few matches, Hermione had managed to beat him a few times out of the blue, mainly when Danica distracted him momentarily by snogging Robert, Hermione would quickly make her move while Ron tried to shield his eyes.

"As I said three going on four years ago, little brother," Robert said, sipping on pumpkin juice, "Auror trade secret. They don't know how I get on the train and that's the way it's going to stay."

"I wish Professor Lupin was staying for next year," Ginny said, "Why does it seem that we get a new DADA teacher every year?"

"Because we do," Ron said, checkmating Hermione, "I looked in the school records and in the last fifty years or so we've had fifty different DADA teachers."

Ron had surprised everyone by scoring rather high this year in his classes, along with Harry. Finals had actually been quite easy for them. The task of convincing Professor McGonagall to give them the Marauders Map back was actually far more difficult than any other test, save Herbology. Once again, Herbology had been the bane of their existence and Neville Longbottom spent several hours lecturing (literally) to Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean the days before the final.

Neville had improved slightly under the tutelage of Professor Lupin this year, something Robert hadn't quite figured out the year before. While needing help from Harry again this year before the Defense final he was slowly starting to catch on. Probably because he was gaining confidence from being such a valuable asset when it came to the subject of Herbology.

Exiting the train as soon as it reached Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Harry was surprised to see not only Mr. Lupin (no longer a professor) but Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew standing on the platform with Gabriel. Pettigrew held a cage with a small owl hardly bigger than a person's fist in it.

"Mr. Black. Mr. Pettigrew…" Harry began before being cut off.

"Harry, please just call us by our first names," Sirius said, "Peter prefers that and my family has a rather nasty history so I'd rather not be known by my last name until I've done something to get a better reputation for it."

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"Well Sirius and I are enjoying being out and about," Peter said, "but why we're _here_ is this owl. Mr. Weasley if you could come here please." He called to Ron who was helping Ginny and Hermione get their luggage. Danica just took out her wand, gave a flick and the respective bags came floating out and made their way over to the mass of people around Harry.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Sirius and I were feeling a little responsible for taking away your pet," Peter said, chuckling a little at the memory of being a rat for twelve years, "So we found you what we hope will be a suitable replacement."

"He's cute," Ginny said, looking into the cage with the small owl, "It is a _he_ right?"

"As far as we know," Sirius said.

"Thank you, Mr. Pettigrew," Ron thanked Peter, grinning as he received the cage.

This resulted in Peter asking to please call him and Sirius by their first names, which Harry found funny because Sirius had requested the same thing of him only moments before.

The now much larger group of friends parted ways, promising to keep in touch over the summer, and excitedly talking about the fact that England was going to host the Quidditch World Cup over the summer.

Sirius was practically drooling over the subject, apparently having been a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team while James Potter (Harry's dad) was Seeker. He hadn't seen Quidditch in years and was _dying_ to see a real professional match again. He also confessed that he'd been the one to send Harry the Firebolt for Christmas, witnessing it hit the Whomping Willow earlier that year.

"You're not going to get all disgusting around me over the summer?" Harry asked Robert and Danica as they left Kings Cross Station.

"Harry," Robert said, "since you've been around me for, what, seven years now, you should know that your question is rather dependant on a person's definition of the term "disgusting"."

Danica giggled as Harry groaned. It was going to be a long three weeks before the Quidditch World Cup.

* * *

_Like I said at the top, I don't know when I'll pick this back up again I've got more important things to be getting done right now. Mayber I'll have another chapter out sometime in December. Who really knows._

_Did people like my Quidditch Final? I started writing without looking at the book for what was happening, mainly because with what I was starting to do I was deviating from the book enough that all I needed was the elements from the book to know what I needed to include. After that it's all up to interpretation._

_Was anyone surprised to see Peter back? This will be interesting to write in the future seeing as Peter is on the opposite side of the fight in this story._

_Please review. Give prank idea's if you have them. I'll update when I have time to start working on this again._


	12. Goblet of Fire part I

Ok, it's been a while. Thank you to those who have given me feedback, those of you who _didn't_ I'd like some from you. I did fairly well in my classes at school, but some changes are going to have to be made in how I schedule things. I might not get much writing done for a while so readers will have to bear with me. Sorry, but school comes before fanfiction.

On terms about the story, we've reached to point where things start to get really complex. I'm not able to just sit with the current book I'm working on and work my way through it changing things here and there. I've got all the remaining books sitting in front of me while I write this because details that I change in this book will heavily affect the events in later books. The _Deathly Hallows_ is going to be an interesting book to rewrite as I'm not sure I'm going to follow what JKR originally wrote. Also, while I'll still try to keep up with pranks done by the Weasley twins and Robert's sarcastic monologues, the books from here on out have a rather dark undertone to them. This is important for though Robert and Gabriel like to deal with things with a light heart, along with Dumbledore, there is a very serious side to all of them.

Anyway, enjoy the start of _The Goblet of Fire:_

* * *

"Alrighty then," Robert said as he finished shuffling the playing cards.

"Can I ask why we're using Muggle playing cards instead of a self-shuffling deck?" Ron asked.

"'Cause Wizarding playing cards don't have the correct number of cards and suits for the game we're playing," Danica said.

Harry, Robert, Danica, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George were all sitting at the Weasley family table late at night playing a game Danica called "Poo on Your Neighbor." It was a simple game really; the object of it was not to win necessarily but to _not lose_. Obviously the lowest card lost so players tried to get rid of their low card by exchanging them with the person to their left, who was obliged to exchange their card. "Queens" were an exception as they were an automatic win, even beat a King or an Ace, and if a player should receive a Queen they were to show it if they were asked to exchange cards.

Robert was the current dealer of the game and since no one was "to his left" to exchange cards he exchanged cards with the top of the deck if he chose to.

"So," Robert said, giving each player their card, "We've got about three days or so until the Quidditch Cup Final. How's everyone's summer gone so far? Danica and I have been having a _wonderful_ time."

Danica giggled as Harry groaned. Robert and Danica, while not being "overly disgusting" (in their opinion) around Harry, they did enjoy each other's company as any couple their age would. This usually involved a fair amount of public snogging and cuddling, during appropriate moments, most of which happened to be when Harry was around.

Or so he thought. In reality they only did enough to make him slightly uncomfortable and saved the stuff that would send him running from the room red in the face for when they were alone.

"Summer has gone well for us," Fred said as he passed his card to Ginny.

"Mum was quite upset when she found out we didn't plan on going into the Ministry," George said, eying his card with exaggerated scrutiny.

"She went on and on about how we had to keep the family tradition up," Fred continued.

"But then we reminded her that Bill and Charlie never went into the Ministry," George picked up as Ginny passed her card Hermione.

"She still was against our ambition of opening a joke shop until we showed her our O.W.L.s," Fred chuckled.

The twins had performed quite well in their wizarding tests the previous term. Both were among the top students in Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration, along with decent grades in Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Neither of them thought much of their scores and said they were only letters on a piece of paper that crotchety old witches and wizards looked at to see who they might consider hiring as an undersecretary.

"My parents were a bit sad to see me off so soon," Hermione said, deciding to keep her new card, "But they understand that I'd want to go to the Quidditch Final since England is hosting it. Pity England isn't playing in it though…"

"Yeah," Ron groaned, nodding to Harry to take his turn, "Transylvania crushed us by nearly two hundred points. That was an embarrassing match."

"Can't be as embarrassing as watching the American team try to play," Robert grunted, "We lost all but one match and that was against Trinidad and Tobago, who had a bad run this year, where we won by ten points and still didn't manage to catch the Snitch. I swear the only international sports America seems to be good at, Muggle and Wizarding alike; seem to be the ones that they invented themselves."

"Why is that?" Hermione asked.

"We're Americans!" Danica said in a proud voice that dripped with sarcasm, "We don't giv'a shit about anyone other than ourselves! Why should we be good at sports that other nations came up with?"

"You believe that?" Ginny quirked an eyebrow at Danica, missing the sarcasm in the older witches voice.

"I find it disturbing that the most popular sport in America, watched by Muggles and Magic-folk alike, is American Football," Danica said, "While it is an entertaining game to watch no other country in the world plays it and we seem to get erections over watching twenty-two very large "angry" men try to move an oval shaped "ball" across a three hundred foot long playing field."

"It's a good thing we're in Britain right now," Robert, who _enjoyed_ watching American Football, said quickly, "'cause if Danica had said that in an American pub there would probably be a large mob out to lynch her right about now."

A loud knock on the door to the Burrow, the Weasley household, caused everyone to jump. "Wonder who that is," George muttered as he passed his card to Robert.

"Dunno," Robert said, "Sorry, George but I have a Queen, therefore I win, determine who loses while I…see…who's at…the door." He said this haltingly, in a manner that made Harry suspect that Robert knew who was at the door but was making things dramatic for "laugh's and giggle's".

Robert rose from his chair and walked to the door. Harry watched as Robert reached for the handle several times but drew his hand back each time. Finally, Robert leaned his elbow against the door, crossing one foot over the other, and resting is other hand on his hip.

"Password?" he asked.

There was a slight pause outside and a bit of rustling, and then—"Oh! My old man's a dustman; he wears a dustman's cap!"—a relatively deep voice sang with a bit of a twang. Clanging noises resonated from outside, like someone was holding a tin pot in one hand and striking it with something. Robert grinned madly and threw open the door.

"GAVIN!" he roared, pulling a slightly larger and slightly older black man into the house with a fierce hug.

"ROBERT!" the man—Gavin—roared in return, lifting Robert slightly off the floor as he returned the hug.

Behind the two hugging idiots, as Harry denoted them, followed two men that could only be Weasley's based on their fiery red hair.

"Bill!" Ginny squealed jumping from her chair and rushing to the taller one with long hair back in a ponytail. Harry looked on as the Weasley's welcomed the eldest Weasley boys back home. Harry had always wanted to meet the older Weasley brothers, mainly Bill as he had met Charlie when they sent Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback off to Romania with him.

Charlie had shorter hair and was shorter and stockier than Percy, the third oldest who was also the tallest, though Ron was beginning to catch up with him. He had shiny burns covering parts of his exposed skin, probably from where he had been breathed on while handling his dragons. His jacket was made of dragon skin and when he removed it he revealed muscular arms, which were covered with more shiny burns.

Bill…well, Bill could only be described as he would have been great friends with Robert had they gone to the same school. They looked about the same age and had the same sort of nonchalant swaggering grace to their movements. Bill was taller than Robert and a bit heavier, his hair was a skosh longer too, though he did not have a beard like Robert did.

The man that came in with them that Robert had called Gavin was larger than Bill. He was impressive to look at. Standing around six feet and…oh, say, four inches, Gavin looked like he could lift a person over his head with one arm. He wore a Weird Sister's (popular Wizard band) t-shirt, and had a skull ring on his right middle finger, along with a simple band of gold on his left ring finger.

"Alright, everyone," Bill said as the Weasley's stopped welcoming their older siblings home, he still held Ginny close to him, "We're back, we know, but I'd like to know who this guy over here is that Harry's brother is greeting rather affectionately."

"You're wondering about Mr. Robbins here I take it," Robert chuckled slapping the large black man on the back, "He and I roomed together in Auror training school…"

"You mean we roomed together during the last year of my training while I was taking the tests and you qualified for automatic testing," Gavin said in his deep voice, "I spent the better part of three years in training while you showed up and did your little thing and the two of us were Auror's."

"You're making it sound like I was something amazing," Robert scoffed, "I was nothing of the sort. You were ranked higher than I was after the testing."

"Only because I went through the training school," Gavin argued back patiently.

"No, because you're a more capable Auror than I am," Robert said, "You're test score was far higher than mine. I_ barely_ passed the test."

"You're easily as talented an Auror as I am," Gavin said crossing his arms, "We've had this argument before you know."

"Yes, and each time there was only one way to settle the argument," Robert said, crossing his own arms, "Shall we get on with it and get what is inevitable out of the way?"

"Why not?" Gavin said, and the two men turned and headed out the door.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, completely lost with what was happening.

"Oh, they do this all the time when they get together, which sadly doesn't happen that often," Danica said, "This, I believe, is the first time they've seen each other in about two years or so. I wouldn't know, since the only reason I know this is because Robert has told me. They're going outside to prove to each other their arguments and Robert will both win and lose."

"How does that happen?" Ron asked.

"Robert loses the duel, showing that Gavin is the more talented Auror of the two of them," Danica said gathering some medical supplies, "Actually I hope that the match is a closer…"

BOOM

Everyone jumped as the first explosion sounded from outside. "I'd better get out there in case they actually hurt each other badly," Danica said quickly and bolted out the door. Flashes of light were able to be seen through the open door briefly as it closed behind her.

—Crack—"Bill," Percy Weasley said as he appeared next to the eldest Weasley, "I've been working on this report on standardized caldron thickness but have been hitting a bit of a Shield Charm, as it were, at around seven feet for my essay…"

"Only seven feet," Bill asked with mock-astonishment, "Percy you've lost your touch! A report like that should be at least eight and a half feet."

"Yes, I know," Percy said irritably, "Unfortunately it's so quiet around here compared to at Hogwarts that I'm having difficulty thinking! What's going on outside?"

"Oh, Harry's brother and his former roommate are having a go at each other," Charlie said.

"Excellent!" Percy said, "They're producing quite the ruckus." He walked outside, holding the door open for his books and rolls of parchment as he summoned them through the door.

The remaining people in the house looked at each other before shrugging and walking outside where Percy had conjured up a desk and light and was busily writing away as Robert was suspended upside-down about twenty feet in the air firing spells down at Gavin.

* * *

"I told you that you were the more talented Auror," Robert said to Gavin as he held the ice pack that Danica had given him to his head about an hour later. The match had almost been a draw until Gavin had gotten close enough to put Robert into a headlock and wrestle him to the ground. Without wands the match had quickly gone in Gavin's favor due to his larger size.

Most everyone had gone off to bed, Harry, Ron, and the twins in one room, Hermione, Ginny, and Danica in another, Percy in his own room which was so full with filing cabinets and stacks of parchment that he was granted a room by himself for the time being, Charlie had decided to turn in early and was in the twin's room where he, Bill, Robert, and now Gavin would be sleeping. Arthur and Molly Weasley were in their room as well, and it was just Robert, Gavin, and Bill sitting around downstairs not wanting to go to bed just yet.

"Forgive me for being one hundred pounds heavier than you then," Gavin said, sipping some fire whiskey, "And I actually am sorry for not noticing that rock you hit your head on."

"Its combat, Gavin, there's only one rule," Robert reminded his older friend, "Last one standing wins."

"It's still friendly competition," Bill mused, "Now you probably get this a lot but…"

"But what, old chap?" Robert asked, scratching his beard a bit, moving the ice pack into his other hand.

"What's it like to be the son of the, quote, Greatest-Auror-of-the-Modern-Age, un-quote?" Bill asked leaning back in the chair he sat in.

"Oh, you're asking about Dad, eh?" Robert said, "Well, there's a fair amount to live up to, but that's only because people expect me to be brilliant like Dad, Dad wants me to find my own niche. We goof off all the time, have you ever seen the Muggle television show Monty Python's Flying Circus? It's a brilliant show. Was made back in the seventies."

"I mean how'd you pass Auror training school in record time," Bill pressed, "You took the test in London, which is why I've heard all the stories about the American wizard just out of school performing feats of magic that were unheard of…"

"The only reason why I was as good as I was, was because Dad was colleagues with Dumbledore and another powerful Wizard, Graham Gandalf," Robert said taking a sip from his own glass of fire whiskey, "Had more private tutor's than I knew what to do with. You know who Graham is don't you?"

"Former American Minister of Magic, just retired," Bill stated, "Yeah, I've heard of him. Developed duel-wand fighting techniques around the first of the Muggle "World Wars", if I know my history well enough. That would put him around Dumbledore's age wouldn't it?"

"He's around there," Robert said, "He was good friends with that Muggle writer J. R. R. Tolkien, which is why his name shows up in that book of his _Lord of the Rings_ if I remember correctly. I've thought about reading the book to see if the personality is the same but I've never had the time."

"Stop being so modest Robert," Gavin said calmly, "You're better than a great many Auror's that we know. And before you get into the argument that "I'm better than you are" I would like to note that my uncle is Kingsley Shacklebolt who is also a highly ranked Auror in Britain. I too have good connections."

"Speaking of connections," Robert said, pouring himself another glass of fire whiskey, "I think that it's only fair to warn Bill here ahead of time that young Harry has a bit of a crush on little Ginny, though he doesn't quite understand it yet. The feeling, mind you, is mutual between the two of them."

"Ah, so we get to be the overbearing, overprotective, older brothers of the couple-to-be then, eh?" Bill said lightly, pouring himself a drink of fire whiskey.

"Yes and when you're an older brother to The-Boy-Who-Lived you have to be on the watch," Robert said, "Even more so now that he's getting closer to being of age. The Guardian's Charm that was placed on him about seven years ago is beginning to lose potency. I can only pin-point his location if I'm within close Apparating distance to him nowadays and I'm on constant duty now."

"Why's that?" Gavin asked, narrowing his eyes together.

"Professor Trelawney of Hogwarts School gave another prediction last year that Voldemort would be making a return," Robert said, lowering his voice.

"Hold it," Bill said. He pulled out his wand and cast a series of concealment and secrecy spells around the small room they were in. "Continue," he said as he put his wand away.

"I've already mentioned the prediction," Robert said, "So Dad told me to keep a close eye on Harry for his safety. Harry is still young and doesn't know all the concealment charms and whatnot that a trained Auror is capable of so he doesn't know how closely I'm watching him. But he's recently had a nightmare about an old man being murdered in a large mansion. He saw a few other people, mainly men, in the house but was unable to recognize any of them…"

* * *

"…but one of the voice's that he could discern was a high, cold voice that seemed to be referring to itself in third person saying 'Lord Voldemort'," Gabriel said to the circle of Auror's and other powerful witches and wizards sitting around the table.

"So you're saying that there is the possibility that the Dark Lord may be coming back," Kingsley Shacklebolt said in his deep voice.

"That's what it appears to be Kingsley," Rufus Scrimgeour said thoughtfully.

"Does anyone have any thoughts on the dream?" Gabriel asked, "From what Robert, my son, reported to me the dream was extremely realistic to Harry, even though he couldn't quite make out everything that was being said, and Harry woke up with his scar burning like mad…"

"It sounds to me," came an aging voice from a ways down the table, "That there could be a mental connection between Mr. Potter and Lord Voldemort."

Every head turned toward the source, though the most surprising aspect of the meeting was that no one in the room flinched at the utterance of the name "Voldemort." Sitting next to Albus Dumbledore was a wizard, about as old if not older than Dumbledore, with long graying hair with a gray beard and bushy eyebrows. The Legendary Graham Gandalf had spoken up.

"How would there be a psychic connection between a presumed dead Dark Wizard and a young adolescent boy?" Emmeline Vance asked.

"We are all familiar with the dark magic required to create a Horcrux are we not?" Dumbledore said.

Everyone nodded.

"Well, we aren't quite sure as of right now how many Voldemort may have created," Dumbledore continued, "But if he had at least created one he would have been anchored to this realm of existence so when hit by the Killing Curse he did not die but he would have lost his physical body. Unfortunately, due to having killed James and then Lily Potter before trying to kill Harry, Graham and I theorize that he may have inadvertently made _Harry_ a Horcrux which would be why there is a psychic connection between them."

"So you're saying that my Godson is connected to Voldemort?" Sirius Black said in a weary voice.

"It would appear that way," Severus Snape muttered.

"Well what can be done for this?" Peter Pettigrew asked. He had, with the extreme efforts of both Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, passed the Auror tests and was part of the Department of Auror's now.

"I suspect that a simple study of Occlumency would allow Harry to not have his mind open to Voldemort's thoughts," Dumbledore said, "Either Severus or myself would be able to teach him the skill. It may be in better tactics to have Severus teach Harry so it would appear as if it were a normal class that he were taking, instead of myself which might alert Voldemort to our knowledge that he is on the move again."

"I'm not completely sure that would be wise," Rufus mused, "Severus is, after all, a former Death Eater and having him teaching Harry techniques to block a mental intrusion by Voldemort might take away our greatest asset against him should he truly come back."

"I am a Ligilimen and an Occlumen," Severus said testily, "I will be able to guard my true thoughts against the Dark Lord should I "return to him" as he comes back into power and spin whatever story I need to convince him of my loyalty. He is surprisingly trusting, mainly because he believes that all his followers fear him as much as they fear death."

"I think that we have established our next move," Graham said, "From Robert's report on Harry's dream the connection is still weak as Voldemort is still weak without a true physical body. Therefore he may never take notice of Severus teaching the boy Occlumency. As Cornelius has requested of all of you currently employed Auror's, we shall be watchful at the Tri-Wizard Tournament that Hogwarts is hosting this year."

"Why is that necessary again?" Remus asked, "No one outside of the Ministry knows about the event taking place."

"Yeah, but someone from the Ministry just went miss'n," growled Alastor Moody, "And in Albania too. That was the last place that Voldemort was rumored to have been hiding."

"And even as paranoid as Mad-Eye is," Dumbledore said, "That in itself is too much of a coincidence for us to overlook. Our eyes need to be open and watchful at all times."

A murmur of agreement sifted through the room. "Remember," Rufus said as people began to rise from their chairs, "These words do not leave this room. Considering the nature of our Minister I doubt that he will acknowledge the notion of the possibility of Voldemort making a comeback. And Graham over here has just retired from his position of political leverage so we can't force Cornelius to see reality while he wants to sit back in the comfort of whatever distortion he can come up with."

"Well I believe that is the nature of the Order of the Phoenix," Minerva McGonagall said, "Our founders, headed by Merlin himself who was a phoenix Animagi, believed that the Order should be a behind the scenes force. Doing what the bureaucrats would get caught up in logistics over."

Everyone departed in their own way from the meeting. The Order of the Phoenix was a large order, encompassing many nations. They had always been in the background, watching over the world to make sure that Dark Magic did not prevail. No matter how terrible a stroke fell upon them, the members of the Order were always capable enough to "rise from the ashes" to live again.

Rufus, Gabriel, Dumbledore, and Graham walked slowly through the halls of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. It was the new headquarters in Britain, there were many other headquarters around the world, but Sirius Black had offered his former home due to the extensive wards his family had placed on the building. The house was also enlarged to the point where the volume inside it was similar to the size of a small mansion instead of a normal London flat.

"I hope that we can reason with Cornelius if the worst should happen," Dumbledore sighed, "As powerful as we are we are not a legalized "military force." We can only do so much while still behind the scenes."

"Which is still considerable," Rufus added, "Bear in mind, Albus, that the "loophole" that allowed us to hire Remus into the Auror Department was that we simple said "bugger off" to the higher ups who didn't like it when we accepted him in. Because our Order operates below the law we can get away with a great many things."

"And this, dear Rufus, is why you are the better candidate for Minister of Magic than I ever would be," Dumbledore said, "You know how to operate the laws and use them. I simply am a half-way decent leader who has a great deal of magical power."

"Never stopped me," Graham chuckled, "I will never say I was the best Minister while I was Minister of Magic but I did far better than some of the wizards and witches who ran against me would have done."

"Let me remind you of the last time I had the resemblance of that kind of power," Dumbledore began.

"Yes, yes, we all know the story of your fight with Grindlewald and your brother," Gabriel waved his hand, "And Graham has gone through your memories and discerned that it was indeed Gellert's spell that killed Ariana so you can stop beating yourself around the head and neck over the subject."

"Let's change subjects," Rufus suggested, "Gabriel, I'm having Auror testing in early September and since you're the best of the best, and are still below "retirement age", could you come and do a bit of a demonstration for the recruits?"

"Aren't you inviting that Chinese Auror as well?" Gabriel asked.

"Xiao Po? Rufus asked, "Yes, indeed, he is coming." The two men shared a laugh.

"Yes I'll show up," Gabriel said, "Between my duel-wand techniques and Xiao's hand-to-hand combat I think that that demonstration will be one all too memorable for the newbie's."

"Until they see Graham and I have a dispute," Dumbledore laughed, Graham grinning widely as well.

* * *

Percy, Charlie, Bill, Gavin, and Robert crowded into the small staircase that wound up the center of the Burrow. "I still don't see why we all have to get up right now," Percy yawned, "I mean all of us can Apparate so only Dad really needs to go with those who can't."

"Yes, but it will be fun to see the reactions of everyone," Charlie told his younger brother.

"Everyone have the Muffling Charm cast on their ears?" Bill asked, pulling his wand away from his ear. Everyone nodded. Robert pulled out a small aerosol can and held it up above his head.

Three—two—one—Gavin counted down on his fingers.

_bYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT!_

The can that Robert had pulled out was a Muggle Air-Horn, a small can of compressed air that when a button was pushed a loud horn sounded off. Screams, muffled curses, and thuds chorused around the house as the young wizards in the stairway removed the Muffling Charms from their ears.

"Let's see here," Bill mused, "I heard Ginny scream, along with another scream from that room, probably Hermione; Fred and George sat bolt upright and smacked their heads into the ceiling or the bunk above them; Ron thrashed around and eventually fell out of bed; and Mum and Dad are already downstairs waiting for everyone so the only people that I didn't hear were Robert's girlfriend and Harry."

Several people glared at the older boys on their way down the stairs to breakfast, except Harry who looked normal as usual.

"I think he suspected that I'd do something like this and wasn't surprised," Robert mumbled, "Damn, I'm losing my touch."

"I didn't see Danica though," Gavin rumbled.

The older boys tromped up to Ginny's room where the three girls were staying. Sure enough Danica was still dead to the world.

"Silencing Charm," Robert noted as he removed the spell from around her bed, "I am becoming too predictable."

"I could do a diving-belly-flop onto the bed," Gavin suggested.

"I'm up!" Danica cried as she rose from the bed and bolted down the stairs as fast as she could.

The boys looked at each other.

"We are a cruel bunch," Robert said.

"It is a wonder that I am married and Robert has a girlfriend," Gavin said, "Do you three have significant others by chance?"

The Weasley boys looked at each other and shook their heads. Percy had recently parted with Penelope Clearwater, Penelope deciding that she liked another gentleman in the Obliviator Headquarters where she now worked, and Charlie and Bill had been too engrossed in their work to look into women.

Robert and Gavin blinked and gave each other a look. Gavin reached behind his back and pulled out a bottle of Dragons Blood**(1).** Robert produced a pair of glasses. Gavin poured a half glass in each and removed the bottle from sight. Both Auror's gulped down the strong drink quickly and chucked the glasses out the window.

"Care to repeat that?" Robert said, "We hadn't had enough alcohol at this time a day to believe what you just told us."

* * *

"Why are we going to the Quidditch Arena today?" Harry asked as everyone that had stayed at the Weasley's, minus Mrs. Weasley, hiked through the meadow across from Ottery St. Catchpole, the village that the Weasley's lived near.

"Well," Mr. Weasley said, "There are over a-hundred thousand witches and wizards coming to see the Quidditch Final, and that's too many to try and slip past Muggles without some sort of explanation. Mind you that the average wizard hasn't the foggiest idea as to how to dress like a Muggle, which we are going to have to do seeing as we're camping out in Muggle campgrounds, so the Department of International Relations has set up staggered arrival times for spectators so that the Obliviator squads don't have to mass obliviations to keep the event secret from non-magical people. Those with cheap tickets had to arrive two weeks in advance. There are hundreds of Portkey's set up in various locations to activate at a predetermined time to bring spectators who can't Apparate…"

"I still…" Percy started to go on about not seeing why the adults who could Apparate had to come with those who couldn't at this time in the morning but Charlie quickly silenced him with an elbow to the ribs. The older boys had decided to suffer along with the rest of their siblings, and friends, and did not sleep in.

"Anyway, our Portkey should be at the top of this hill here," Mr. Weasley said, "And we have about ten minutes before it activates."

Harry had heard about portkey's prior to Robert and his arrival at the Burrow for the few days before the big match. The item that was going to had to be pretty big, he decided, considering all but one Weasley, himself, his older brother, his older brother's girlfriend, his older brother's former roommate (how many people were connected to his older brother in some way shape or form, he wondered) and Hermione were going to be using the portkey. And that didn't include anyone else that might just be using the same portkey as well.

"Now where is that portkey…?" Mr. Weasley muttered as they reached the top of the hill, "It's going to be something unobvious that no one would think about picking up."

"Arthur!" came a call from a little ways across the top of the hill, "It's over here!"

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley greeted as he walked up to the other man, "Everyone this is Amos Diggory from the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I'm sure you all know his son from school."

Cedric Diggory waved sleepily at the crowd of people before him.

"Forgive him," Mr. Diggory said, "We had to get up at two, about three hours after _I_ went to bed, I don't know about Ced here, so he's still not completely with us. Who are all these folk with you Arthur?"

"Well all the red head's are Weasley's," Mr. Weasley gestured around, "But here we have Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, friend's from school, the bearded one is Robert Munro, Harry's adoptive older brother, son of Gabriel Munro, the witch at his side is his girlfriend Danica Mathis, and the tall black gentleman is Gavin Robbins, he's a friend of Robert's and I believe is related to Kingsley."

"Harry Potter?" Mr. Diggory said in a slightly awed voice, "Cedric, didn't you say that you _beat_ Harry Potter in a Quidditch match?" His voice was getting rather excited at this apparent epiphany.

"Wha?" Cedric said groggily, staring at his father with bleary eyes.

"Allow me," Robert said pulling out his Air-Horn. Everyone who had been awakened by it, and those who had been in the stairway with Robert, in the Burrow that morning immediately stuffed fingers in their ears at the sight of the can, remembering the loud noise all too well.

"What's this?" Mr. Diggory asked with curiosity leaning in toward the can to eye it.

_bYAAAAAAAAAAAAATT!!!!_

Mr. Diggory fell back on the seat of his pants, startled by the sudden loud noise, and Cedric stood bolt upright and began looking around widely. Eventually he settled in on the small can held in Robert's hand and began laughing as he watched his father pull himself to his feet.

"That's a Muggle Air-Horn, Dad," he said," rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "It's a can filled with compressed air that Muggles use to make loud obnoxious noises with at events similar to the Quidditch Final."

"I've noticed," Mr. Diggory said with indignation, "but didn't you say that you beat Harry Potter in a…"

"No, Dad," Cedric said, rolling his eyes, "The match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor put every player on both teams, including me and Harry, in the Hospital Wing at school, mainly because of the dementors that flooded the Pitch. I did happen to catch the Snitch before Harry did but that was because I passed out two seconds after he did which meant that instead of falling into the soft mud on the Pitch's grounds I went careening into the stands. Though I should feel lucky that my broom was stopped by the stands instead of the Whomping Willow. Gryffindor still won by nearly a-hundred points. By the way, Harry, has your Nimbus come back from the repair shop yet?"

"Came back about three weeks ago," Harry replied, "Doesn't handle the same as it used to, so it's just a spare broom now."

"But still you caught the Snitch _before Harry Potter did_," Mr. Diggory pressed on, "Oh, this will be something that you can tell children and grandchildren…!" He trailed off excitedly.

"Robert, could I use that Air-Horn of yours?" Cedric asked.

"Why certainly," Robert said, handing over the can.

Mr. Diggory stopped immediately, covering his ears and glaring at his son for a moment.

"Well then," Mr. Weasley said, "We have about a minute until the portkey activates so let's all grab hold of it."

"Here it is," Mr. Diggory grumbled, still put off that his own son wasn't milking the fact that he had out performed Harry by a freak chance of luck for all it was worth. The portkey was a small, ratty boot which held no chance of having enough space to accommodate fourteen hands. Gavin took one look at it and pointed his wand at it, increasing the boots size so that a small person might be able to sit comfortably inside it.

"Ready," Mr. Weasley said as everyone put a hand onto the boot, "In three—two—one—"

Harry's hand was latched onto the boot, as if someone had taken Muggle super-glue and applied it to his hand. He began spinning round and round with everyone else, he thought he could hear other people's voices as the spun wildly around, faster and faster, until…

THUMP

Harry's hand dislodged itself from the boot and he glanced around, realizing that he was lying on his back on the ground. Most everyone that wasn't of age was lying on the ground, Cedric was the only underage person still on his feet. Robert and Gavin had vacant expressions on the faces; Robert was actually smiling a bit.

"Gavin," he said as they let go of the enlarged boot and a witch walked up and shrunk it and chucked it off into a pile of litter, "When we head back, we're drinking the rest of the Dragons Blood before we go."

"Yes," Gavin said in a deep reverent voice, "the pretty lights during the journey were beautiful."

"I was thinking more along the lines of the spinning of our heads," Robert said, as Harry, and the rest of the people on the ground struggled to their feet.

* * *

**1: Dragons Blood is a drink slightly stronger than fire whiskey. This is just a reminder.**

_I hope I'm not creating too many OC's for the story. Before people get angry with me about the characters I've made, the character "Graham Gandalf" would be an equal to Albus Dumbledore, not better than him. While reading the story I didn't think of this but afterward I came to think "the world is a big place for the two most powerful wizard of the current time to be both from England." It works in the story, Harry Potter is an epic series, I wouldn't be doing my own rendition of the series if it wasn't, but I find it a little narrow minded. Since this is only an ameatur writing website I can't guarantee how inclusive I will be able to be but I plan to have this as large scale as I can imagine it to be._

_Now I'm on a break from school right now and will be going back shortly. I'll get as much as I can done before going back but then it will be up to my work load to determine how often I update._

_Keep prank idea's coming, I'll try to work as many as I can in._

_Let me know how I did, please review._


	13. Important Notice

This may come as a disappointment to some and others may think this is the best idea since sliced bread, but I as I work on chapters for _The Goblet of Fire_ I have been looking back on what I have already written to make sure I'm still following the story and I am no longer happy with what I have written for the beginning chapters. Some of you may have read the review by _ReviewsGalore_ and while I don't know what you might be thinking of it I did ask the reviewer to critique my story thus far to see how I'm doing. I agree with that person (I don't know if it's a guy or a girl and frankly it doesn't really matter) on several accounts and have decided to start over.

The new story will be much the same, only with a little more detail at the beginning, hopefully making my character "Robert Munro" not appear to be semi omniscient. I don't know when I'll be posting the "new" story but since all I really need to do is go back and change details and add supporting dialogue and plotline to what I've already saved in my computer I don't think it should take me too terribly long to finish my editing. Still, I am back at school and have many more important things to be doing besides writing this story. When I do post the story I plan to change the title slightly calling it "Magical Mayhem" so that there isn't confusion on the two story lines.

Wish me luck and happy reading and writing.

Kylemoor


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